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

Following her visit to Chechnya and Ingushetia, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour visited North Ossetia, including Beslan, where she laid a wreath at the memorial to the more than 330 people who died in the September 2004 school hostage siege, Interfax reported... MORE

Introduction In a bold attempt to reassert Russian influence in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued an invitation for leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement to visit Moscow in early March. The meetings will mark a break with the rest of the... MORE

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said on March 1 that he had accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Sergei Abramov and would name his successor later in the week, the Associated Press reported. Alkhanov first announced Abramov's resignation in a Moscow press conference on February 28,... MORE

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles said on February 25 following a meeting with Chechen President Alu Alkhanov in Grozny that the war in Chechnya has ended and the human rights situation in the republic has improved, RIA Novosti reported. "Whereas in 1999... MORE

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

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