The Ingushetian police warned the organisers of the Grozny-Moscow peace march, which was to start on August 1 but for organisational reasons was - on July 29 - postponed for some two weeks, that the action had not been sanctioned by the local authorities ten days before its launch as required by the law. In the meantime, a crushing majority of Chechen hunger strikers in Ingushetian refugee camps have ended their voluntary starvation, planning to join the march.
About 200 people held a meeting in front of the Russian embassy in Warsaw, Poland, in protest against the continuing war in Chechnya. Members of various civil society organisations, political parties as well as the Polish Parliament took part in the meeting. Ninety-six Polish deputies signed an appeal to the Russian government to end the war and launch talks with Aslan Maskhadov. – Chechen sources, referring to the organisers of the meeting
A bus with 41 people aboard, heading from Nevinnomyssk to Stavropol in southern Russia, was hijacked by masked gunmen demanding the release of five Chechens jailed for terrorism. In the evening, a Russian anti-terrorist squad stormed the bus, freeing the passengers and killing one of the hijackers. None of the hostages was killed. Wednesday, Aug 1
The Ingushetian police dispersed two dozen participants in the Grozny-Moscow peace march who decided to launch the action which failed to receive the green light from the local authorities. The protesters managed to walk only some one hundred and fifty metres before being stopped by the police troops. Some of the protesters, including human rights activist and one of the march’s organisers, Aleksandr Lyuboslavski, were detained. Thursday, Aug 2
The European Commission agreed on earmarking additional 2 million euros for humanitarian aid to the victims of the conflict in Chechnya, namely for the distribution of food aid and for the protection of peoples' rights in the Northern Caucasus (Daghestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia).
Friday, Aug 3
No major events. Saturday, Aug 4
No major events. Sunday, Aug 5
Russian forces sealed off the Chechen capital Grozny in order to prevent any incidents ahead of the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Grozny by Chechen guerillas in 1996. All vehicles, except those of the police and heads of local administration, were banned to move in the city. Transport in Grozny and throughout the whole republic had been reduced to minimum already a couple of days before the anniversary.
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