Summary of the main news related to the conflict in Chechnya. Compiled by Prague Watchdog.
Monday, November 18
A representative of the Chechnya department of the Russian Federal Security Service said that criminal charges have been brought against the recently dismissed Health Minister of the Moscow-backed Chechen Government Uvais Magomadov on the grounds of his alleged misappropriation of 35 million roubles from the republican budget.
Tuesday, November 19
In the night between November 19 and 20, unknown persons shot dead Chechen religious leader Said-Pasha Salikhov and his son, who worked as a local policeman, in the village of Stariye Atagi near Grozny. The victims were members of the Quraish Arab ethnic group, who are considered descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Russian news agencies quoted Chechnya's chief sanitary inspector Taisiya Mirzoyeva as saying to local newspaper "Vesti Groznogo" that some 40 per cent of the Chechen territory is burdened with severe environmental pollution. Radiation levels and water pollution at several locations in Chechnya, including two residential areas in Grozny, many times exceed the permitted maximums, according to Mirzoyeva.
Russian minister in charge of the issues of the Chechen Republic Stanislav Ilyasov said that the federal center plans to accommodate in Chechnya by the end of the year some 20,000 Chechen refugees currently living in tent refugee camps in Ingushetia. The refugees will be accommodated in the private sector and the Moscow-backed Chechen government will pay their rents, Ilyasov stated.
The Russian Presidential Envoy to the Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev announced that Rudnik Dudayev, the secretary of the Security Council of the Chechen Republic, was appointed to the post of the head of the office of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russia sent diplomatic notes to the former Soviet republics with a request to inspect their ammunition dumps in order to find out whether or not Chechen fighters use portable anti-aircraft missile systems coming from these dumps.
Wednesday, November 20
Heads of local administrations in Chechnya appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to protect them from the Russian military, the press service of the head of the Moscow-backed administration reported.
Heads of major Russian media called on Russian President Vladimir Putin not to sign amendments to the Media Act that were passed by both chambers of the Russian Parliament after the hostage-taking crisis in Moscow.
Thursday, November 21
Russia's Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov appointed Prosecutor of the Chechen capital Grozny Yuri Ponomaryov to the post of acting Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic. Ponomaryov replaced Nikolai Kostyuchenko, whose six-month term of office has expired.
Friday, November 22
Russian minister in charge of the issues of the Chechen Republic Stanislav Ilyasov said that the referendum on the adoption of the new draft Constitution of the Chechen Republic, which provides for the president, government and unicameral parliament, will be held in March 2003.
Speaking at a conference on Chechnya in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, Russian deputy Juli Rybakov proposed to deploy an international contingent to secure peace in Chechnya. The conference, which took place in the Danish parliament and was attented by some 150 participants, discussed the situation in Chechnya and Denmark's detention of Akhmed Zakayev.
Danish daily Berlingske Tidende wrote that the diplomatic tension between Russia and Denmark over the World Chechen Congress and Russia's request for the extradition of Akhmad Zakayev has already made Danish producers to reduce their exports to Russia.
Saturday, November 23
German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published what it called an open letter of Shamil Basayev in which the Chechen field commander calls on NATO leaders to force Russia to withdraw troops from Chechnya and launch peace talks. Basayev warns to attack military, economic and strategic objects in the Russian territory if Russia does not do so, Welt am Sonntag wrote. Chechen media did not publish the letter.
The views expressed on this web site are the authors' own, and don't necessarily reflect the views of Prague Watchdog, which aims to present a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis relating to events in the North Caucasus.
