Glen Howard also met in Moscow with Ruslan Khasbulatov, who in the early 1990s held as high a position as any ethnic Chechen ever has in Russia--speaker of the Russian parliament. Khasbulatov made it clear that he continues to believe that the March referendum was... MORE

HELPING HAND FOR KADYROV'S SON Despite Akhmad Kadyrov's sometimes tense relations with Russia's security agencies, he still has enough clout to get a high-ranking FSB officer to intervene on behalf of his son Zelimkhan. Novaya gazeta reported on June 16 that Oleg Dukanov, head of... MORE

Just what are current relations between Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basaev? On June 13 the radio station Ekho Moskvy reported on indications that the elected head of Chechnya's separatist government is closer to the terrorist warlord than either has acknowledged in the recent past. Maskhadov's... MORE

As the dust settles after Akhmad Kadyrov's recent shakeup of his cabinet and of local administration heads, it is increasingly clear that the surprise move was planned as part of his campaign to win the republic's forthcoming presidential election. A correspondent for the London-based Institute... MORE

Earlier this month, Chechen residents of a refugee camp in Narzan, Ingushetia, experienced a "zachistka" security sweep of the sort more usually associated with Chechnya itself. Leila Lileva of the Russian Prima news service reported that armed men with six armored vehicles entered the camp... MORE

During his recent visit to Moscow, Glen Howard, head of the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya, found that conditions for ethnic Chechens in Russia's capital appear to have improved. Police harassment has diminished to the point where many Chechens no longer take the precaution... MORE

Score the latest round of the Zakaev extradition case as a win for the defense. The London court hearing, due to resume on June 30, will decide Britain's response to Russia's demand for the extradition of Akhmed Zakaev, a key diplomat and spokesman for Chechnya's... MORE

Salambek Maigov, the official Moscow representative of the Maskhadov separatist government, plans to visit the United States in mid-July. The visit will be another in a series of foreign trips and meetings with journalists and government officials outside Russia. The Russian government has been surprisingly... MORE

The next struggle between Akhmad Kadyrov and the federal center will be over control of Chechnya's economic resources, especially oil. On June 21 the Chechen media published Kadyrov's proposed draft of a treaty between Grozny and Moscow demarcating which parts of Chechnya's economic, social and... MORE

CONTROLLING CHECHNYA'S TEMPORARY LEGISLATURE Like Vladimir Putin, Akhmad Kadyrov believes that the right kind of parliament is one that obeys the executive chief. The recent first session of the newly formed State Council of Chechnya, which will function in effect as the republic's legislature until... MORE