BRIEFS

–A STREET NAMED KADYROV

Main streets in Chechnya’s towns and villages will be renamed after the late Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov to celebrate his birthday on August 23, Russian news agencies reported on August 8. Interfax quoted Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Belkhis Baydaeva as saying that towns and villages had been sending proposals to the Chechen government asking to name one of their central streets after Kadyrov and that many towns and villages locals had at their own initiative already put up signs with Kadyrov’s name on some streets. In addition, Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov announced that two monuments to the elder Kadyrov made by the controversial Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli will be unveiled in Grozny and Gudermes on August 23, newsinfo.ru reported. Tsereteli will receive one of the Chechen government’s highest awards.

–REBEL LEADER REMEMBERS KING FAHD

Chechen rebel president Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev sent a condolence message to Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz on the demise of King Fahd, Chechenpress reported on August 3. According to the separatist website, the rebel leader noted that the late Saudi monarch had repeatedly called on the international community to put an end “to the genocide of the Chechen people.” “The short-sighted policy of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which rested upon the principles of complacency with the Kremlin regime and infringed on the rights of Russia’s 20 million Muslims, prevented the voice of this authoritative leader of the Islamic world from being heard,” Sadulaev said in his statement. He added that he hoped that Saudi Arabia “will pursue a favorable policy towards the tiny Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which protects its state independence by waging one of the bloodiest wars in the modern history of the world against the giant Russian empire.”