On March 1, the eve of President Vladimir Putin's visit to Prague, former Czech President Vaclav Havel and several others, including fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners, published an open letter in the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper criticizing Russia over human rights abuses, particularly in Chechnya.... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov told reporters in Moscow on February 28 that he welcomes the upcoming talks between Russian officials and Hamas. The Hamas representatives are scheduled to arrive in Moscow on March 3. "Inviting Hamas to Moscow is a positive and constructive move indeed,"... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov told reporters in Moscow on February 28 that "nobody has any doubts" that the exiled tycoon and former Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky funded the government of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov. "We all know that, and [Chechen warlord Shamil] Basaev himself has... MORE

--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

During a press conference held in the Kremlin on January 31, President Vladimir Putin outlined the new Russian policy toward Islam inside the country. "Wahhabism in itself is not a threat, but any distortion of the norms of Islam, distortion of Wahhabism, certainly cannot be... MORE

Kommersant reported on February 22 that the office of presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District (YuFO), Dmitry Kozak, has asked the YuFO division of the federal Prosecutor General's Office to assess the legality of actions taken by Chechen government officials. According to the newspaper,... MORE

Acting Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov used the occasion of a February 21 meeting in Grozny with visiting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour to make accusations against Boris Berezovsky, the former Kremlin insider and current Kremlin opponent, and Akhmed Zakaev, the separatist... MORE

Itar-Tass reported on February 21 that U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour's meetings that day in Grozny with Chechen President Alu Alkhanov and Acting Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov focused on kidnapping. In addition, the Prava cheloveka v Rossii ("Human Rights in Russia") website,... MORE

The separatist Chechenpress news agency on February 22 ran a commentary on the remarks Ramzan Kadyrov made during his meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. "It has long been known to psychiatrists that for patients suffering from manic delusions, the most... MORE

On February 23, the 62nd anniversary of Josef Stalin's mass deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples, the Chechenpress news agency published a message from Chechen separatist leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev. "The forced deportation of Chechens and Ingush to Kazakhstan and Central Asia, carried out with... MORE