News

January 28, 2005 23:33

• Atkinson's report 'has some drawbacks'

  "Efforts of the Council of Europe aimed at developing the South Caucasus, in particular establishing stability and long peace, are positive. Nevertheless, we think that the report by Mr Atkinson has some drawbacks on the whole, along with positive aspects," the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry said to journalists.

January 28, 2005 22:30

• Rally against Saakashvili nomination

  A rally was held in the capital of South Osetia, Tskhinval, in connection with Mikhail Saakashvili's recent speech in Strasbourg, in which he made a suggestion that South Osetia be granted a high degree of autonomy within Georgia.

January 27, 2005 23:41

• Operation to destroy rebels is over

  The Caucasian Knot correspondent in Kabardino-Balkaria, who spent a whole day at the scene of a special operation to destroy a rebel group in Nalchik, is reporting details of the storm.

January 26, 2005 23:59

• Policeman accused of kidnapping, arrested in courtroom

  The trial against Sergey Lapin (better known under the nickname of Kadet), who is suspected of kidnapping Zelimkhan Murdalov in 2004, is underway.

January 26, 2005 23:58

• Probability of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia under discussion

  The existence of regional interests and projects in the South Caucasus will not allow the resumption of hostilities, believes military expert Uzeir Dzhafarov.

January 26, 2005 23:53

• Police encircle dwelling house occupied by rebels

  At about 9 p.m. on January 25, Kabardino-Balkarian police officers encircled a five-story communal house in the suburbs of the republican capital, Nalchik. Members of the extremist jamaat (society) Yarmuk are reported to be hiding in it.

January 25, 2005 23:15

• Destiny of abducted Maskhadov's relatives still unknown

  Chechen authorities and law enforcers deny their involvement in the happening, and Maskhadov's relatives (as well as many people in Chechnya) are convinced that the abduction was organized by officers of the Chechen presidential security service.

January 25, 2005 22:55

• Georgian, South Osetian hostages released

  On January 24, the Georgian and South Osetian co-chairmen of the Combined Control Commission for the Resolution of the Georgian-Osetian Conflict came to an agreement concerning the exchange of hostages.

January 25, 2005 22:53

• US urges Azerbaijan to increase transparency of parliamentary elections

  Ambassador Stephan Minikes pointed to some positive moments. In particular, he mentioned the fact that the Azerbaijan Central Election Commission dismissed several people for violations committed during the municipal election.

January 25, 2005 12:27

• IHF expresses deep concern for safety of abducted human rights lawyer

  The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) expresses its deep concern for the fate and whereabouts of Makhmut Magomadov who was detained by a group of camouflaged gunmen in Grozny on 20 January.

January 24, 2005 23:54

• Bust of Stalin to be erected in Dagestani capital

  Members of the local branch of the Russian Communist Party along with their supporters unveiled a memorial board with a bas-relief of Stalin on the square in front of the Makhachkala station on January 20.

January 24, 2005 23:47

• Political refugee arrested in Azerbaijan

  Being already an aged man, Saday Nazarov returned to Azerbaijan on January 11 after he had lived as an emigrant for 10 years in Czechia, where he had refugee status. The professor took on trust the authorities' statements about national reconciliation and resolution of the problem of political prisoners.

January 24, 2005 23:16

• Combined Control Commission seeks release of hostages

  An extraordinary meeting of the Combined Control Commission for the Resolution of the Georgian-Osetian Conflict is being held in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Osetia. The meeting was arranged because the problem with hostages taken from both sides was to be settled immediately.

January 21, 2005 23:49

• IHF expert abducted in Chechnya

  In the time of Aslan Maskhadov, Magomed Magomadov headed a group of investigators in the Chechen prosecutor's office engaged in investigations of cases connected with kidnappings.

January 21, 2005 23:45

• Beslan residents continue their picket

  Beslan residents who suffered in the terror attack have been picketing the Kavkaz federal rout for the second day. "Our children lie in graves, and we'll lie here until Dzasokhov (president of North Osetia - editor's note) goes away," picketers said to a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

January 20, 2005 23:57

• Chechen villages become deserted

  Russian soldiers purposefully extrude people from mountainous districts of Chechnya.

January 20, 2005 23:35

• People in Beslan urge Dzasokhov to resign

  People who suffered in the terror attack in Beslan school 1 started a picket at about 10 a.m. on the Rostov-Baku road entering Beslan, North Osetia.

January 20, 2005 23:06

• Situation worsens in South Osetia

  This morning, South Osetian law enforcers blocked the road Tskhinval-Dzhava going along Georgian villages.

January 19, 2005 23:59

• Policemen do not hide implication in assault against journalist

  Sarmat Parastayev, a brother of director of the Center for Humanitarian Studies Alan Parastayev taken to the Gudushuari medical center in Tbilisi, Georgia, has reported that Alan was beaten by officers of the South Osetian Interior Ministry.

January 19, 2005 23:55

• Azerbaijan can suffer from US attack against Iran

  Some time ago, the Arabian media reported that the United States was going to attack Iran from three directions: from Iraq, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasian Knot correspondent has turned to Azerbaijan political scientists for comments on the issue.