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THE PRAGUE WATCHDOG WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, No. 20 (May 16, 2005)
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1) THE WEEK IN BRIEF (May 9 - 15)

May 10 - During his overnight visit to Georgia, US President George W. Bush spoke to tens of thousands of Georgians on Tbilisi's Freedom Square. He described Georgia as "a beacon of liberty for this region and the world" and called for a peaceful resolution of the country's territorial problems.

May 10 - The filling of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline with oil started.

May 14 - Vakha Arsanov, former Vice-President of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, was killed in Grozny, the Moscow-backed Chechen authorities announced, but the information has not been confirmed by independent sources.

May 14-15 - Six local guerrillas were killed in an overnight police operation in a five-storey house in Cherkessk, Karachayevo-Cherkesiya. No casualties among civilians were reported.

May 15 - Chechen guerrilla commander Danilbek Eskiyev was killed in the village of Gerzel in the Gudermessky district, Russian sources reported.


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2) UPCOMING EVENTS

May 17: Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia / Russia) - The North Ossetian Supreme Court will start hearing the case of Nurpasha Kulayev, who had been accused of directly participating in the September 2004 school hostage tragedy in Beslan.

May 18: Washington, DC (USA) - Shamil Tangiyev and Zarema Mukusheva of Russian NGO Memorial will brief on human rights in Chechnya. The event will take place at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum at 2 p.m.

For more upcoming Chechnya-related events go to www.watchdog.cz/calendar.

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3) REGIONAL REPORTING

Katayama residents hold protest rally against "oil regiment" in Grozny (by Timur Aliyev, May 14)
The group protested the kidnapping of two brothers by members of this unit who said the men were taken hostage because one of their relatives is a guerrilla fighter.
http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000008-000001-000382&lang=1

Ingush authorities dismantle flooded refugee camp (by Ruslan Isayev, May 15)
The wooden huts of the spontaneous settlement Kolos are situated next to a bridge and almost yearly the settlement is affected by summer floods.
http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000151&lang=1

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4) POLITICS

Ex Vice-President of independent Chechnya Vakha Arsanov reportedly killed (Prague Watchdog, May 15)
It is not clear if Arsanov was staying in the house of his own free will because information emerged earlier this year that he and his son were detained by Moscow-backed Chechen forces.
http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000004-000001-000170&lang=1


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5) ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
Monitoring attacks on the rights defenders whose work is connected with the Chechen conflict.

Link: http://www.watchdog.cz/attacks

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6) LATEST ADDITION TO OUR LINKS LIBRARY:

Ingush.ru http://www.ingush.ru/ - a government-run website on Ingushetia.


For more Chechnya-related links go to our Links library (http://www.watchdog.cz/links), which is being continuously updated.


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Prague Watchdog Weekly Newsletter is a publication of Prague Watchdog. If you wish to subscribe (unsubscribe) to it, please send us an e-mail. The newsletter is usually sent out on Monday evenings.

Prague Watchdog launched its website in August 2000 and its aim is to collect and disseminate information on the ongoing conflict in Chechnya, focusing on human rights, media coverage, political situation and relief aid.

Visit us at http://www.watchdog.cz. For the Russian version, go to http://www.watchdog.cz/russian.
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