The Week in Brief: November 11 - November 17, 2002
Summary of the main news related to the conflict in Chechnya. Compiled by Prague Watchdog.
Monday, November 11
Musa Akhmadov took the post as Health Minister of the Moscow-backed Chechen Government. Akhmadov, who worked as the senior consultant at the Gudermes municipal hospital, replaced Uvais Magomadov, who was dismissed in October for undisclosed reasons.
Tuesday, November 12
Former deputy governor of Russia's Ivanovskaya region and former career soldier Mikhail Babich, 33, was appointed Premier of the Moscow-backed Chechen government and first deputy of the head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration. Babich replaced Stanislav Ilyasov, who on November 7 after more than a year and a half in the post became Russian minister in charge of the reconstruction of Chechnya.
Wednesday, November 13
Two employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Alexandr Panov and Musa Satushiyev, were kidnapped near Grozny on the road connecting Pobedinskoye and Goragorskiy. The kidnap victims were traveling together with their colleagues in a convoy of vehicles returning to Ingushetia after delivering humanitarian aid to the capital of Chechnya.
Russia's Federation Council passed amendments to the media law and the anti-terorism law, following their passage by the State Duma on November 1. The amendments curb media coverage of anti-terrorist operations and ban "anything which can promote or justify extremists' activities or dissemination of statements which promote or justify such activities". The bill needs to be signed by the President to become a law.
As of November 13, some 108,500 Chechen IDPs were registered in Ingushetia, and most of them live with host families, according to the Danish Refugee Council.
Thursday, November 14
Three Chechen citizens, allegedly having employee IDs of the security service of the head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration Akhmad Kadyrov, tried to detain or kidnap two Chechens from a passenger bus in the Ingush town of Malgobek. During the fight, one of the kidnappers opened fire inside the bus and somebody detonated a hand grenade, which caused immediate death of four people.
The Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees stated that its officials had urged Lithuania and Poland not to close their doors to asylum seekers from Chechnya who were being barred from entering the two countries following the recent Chechen terrorist attack in Moscow.
Friday, November 15
A group of Chechen fighters shot dead Lieutenant-General Igor Shifrin, head of the Glavspetsstroi engineering corps, having opened cross-fire at his car when he was travelling with security guards in the Oktyabrski district of Grozny.
Saturday, November 16
No major events.
Sunday, November 17
Two employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Alexandr Panov and Musa Satushiyev, who were kidnapped near Grozny on November 13, were freed without any ransom being demanded or paid. The police said several persons had been arrested in connection with the kidnapping.
In Prague some 150 people took part in a rally aimed against the ongoing war in Chechnya. The rally was organized by Czech civic association "Tolerance a občanská společnost".
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.
