--ZYAZIKOV'S FATHER-IN-LAW KIDNAPPED Interfax reported on March 1 that law enforcement agencies had identified a group of suspects who could have been involved in abducting Ingush legislator Magomed Chakhkiev, the father-in-law of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov. Ingush Interior Minster Beslan Khamkhoev told the news agency... MORE

--FEDERAL SERVICEMEN KILLED IN REBEL ATTACKS Agence France-Presse, citing a source inside Chechnya’s pro-Moscow administration, reported that one Russian serviceman and two Chechen policemen were killed on March 2 in 11 rebel attacks carried out across Chechnya that day. The Russian serviceman was killed and... MORE

--BABITSKY DETAINED Radio Liberty correspondent Andrei Babitsky was questioned for six hours by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office in connection with his interview last year with Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basaev (see Chechnya Weekly, August 3, 2005), as well as his relation with “leaders of... MORE

--BODIES OF FOUR MISSING VILLAGERS DISCOVERED The Nazran-based Council of Non-Governmental Organizations reported on March 20 that the bodies of four men had been discovered on the outskirts of the village of Novye Atagi on March 15. Village residents said the bodies had been left... MORE

--RANSOM DEMANDS PUT FORWARD FOR ZYAZIKOV’S FATHER-IN-LAW Kommersant reported on March 30 that a month after the kidnapping of Magomed Chakhkiev, a deputy in the parliament of Ingushetia and father-in-law of the republic’s president, Murat Zyazikov (see Chechnya Weekly, March 6), someone calling himself “Khabibulla”... MORE

--REBELS AND “VOSTOK” FORCES SHOOT IT OUT IN SHALI The Associated Press, citing Chechnya’s Interior Ministry, reported on April 11 that eight to 10 rebels had fought a gunbattle with Defense Ministry troops the previous day in Chechnya’s southeastern Shali district. According to the news... MORE

--KADYROV WANTS TEMPORARY SHELTERS CLOSED DOWN Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has called for all the temporary accommodation centers in Chechnya to be closed down as soon as possible, claiming that they are “breeding grounds” for crime, drug use and prostitution. Ekho Moskvy radio on... MORE

--ACTIVISTS DEMAND PROBE INTO DAGESTANI PROTEST VIOLENCE The For Human Rights movement said on May 3 that it had written to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov calling on him to investigate an April 25 incident in which police in Dagestan used force against protesters, killing at... MORE

--SWEDISH AUTHORITIES SEIZE KAVKAZCENTER SERVERS Swedish authorities shut down the Chechen separatist Kavkazcenter website on May 5 at the request of the Russian authorities. The SR International - Radio Sweden website reported on May 8 that the website was closed down after police with a... MORE

--KULAEV FOUND GUILTY Nur-Pashi Kulaev, said by the Russian authorities to be the soul surviving hostage-taker in the September 2004 attack on Beslan School No. 1, was declared guilty on May 16 for his role in the terrorist raid, in which 331 people, over half... MORE