--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

--KOZAK MEETS WITH BESLAN VICTIMS' RELATIVES President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, met with representatives of the Mothers of Beslan and Voice of Beslan committees in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, on May 23 (Kavkazky Uzel, May 24). Kozak told journalists after... MORE

--ALKHANOV DENOUNCES “CLAN-BASED POLITICS” In his first “state of the nation” address to the Chechen people and parliament on May 29, President Alu Alkhanov said that the North Caucasus needs to modernize its political system, Itar-Tass reported. “Not only the Chechen Republic but also other... MORE