MAY 2006

From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 5/25/2006 4:02 AM
North Caucasus violence continues; authorities to redraw borders?
By Bill Weinberg
Created 04/28/2006 - 18:21

One civilian was killed and several injured (both police and civilians) in a clash that erupted when police opened fire on protesters blocking a road in Dagestan's Dokuzpari district April 25. The protesters, who were demanding the dismisal of a local prosecutor accused of corruption, responded by hurling stones. (ITAR-TASS [1], April 26)

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Russian-backed parliament in neighboring Chechnya joined a chorus of officials suggesting the merger of the two republics, as well as the reunification of Chechnya and Ingushetia, separated after the collapse of the USSR. The abolition of the Chechen-Ingush Republic in the 1990s was a historical mistake, said Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov.

Stalin had first joined Ingushetia and Chechnya into one, and local representatives rejected Abdurakhmanov's call. Russian State Duma deputy from Dagestan, Gadzhimet Safaraliyev, said: "Dagestan ...
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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 5/29/2006 3:39 PM
Monument to Soviet Soldier-Liberator stained with paint (photo)

Read it in Russian

оскверненный памятник в таллинеIn the night on May 20-21, legs of Monument to Soldier-Liberator, erected in Tőnismäel, were stained with white paint, and its face – with blue paint. According to Estonian mass media, the tricolor appeared in such way. According to preliminary information, police detained two suspects near the monument, crime.eel web-site informs. Employees of Tanavapuhastuse AS Firm arrived upon the spot at 02:10 a.m., and cleaned the paint off.       

Police are investigating the crime.

The photo from DELFI web-site

http://www.regnum.ru/english/643842.html

From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 5/29/2006 3:55 PM
“We are losing ground to the Americans near our own borders”: interview with a Russian participant in Vilnius conference

Read it in Russian

A Russian participant in the “Common Vision of Common Neighborhood” conference held in Vilnius, on May 3-5, shares his impressions with REGNUM.

REGNUM: After the speech of US Vice President Dick Cheney at the conference many experts began talking about the possibility of a new “cold war” between Russia and the US. How did the conferees react to this speech?

Perhaps, formally, Cheney did not directly criticize Russia, but the atmosphere at the forum, the talk in the lobby – everything was full of criticism. Three separate conferences were held in the framework of the forum, with each of them supposed to present its findings to the presidents. All of them discussed democracy development in two countries — Russia and Belarus. The findings ...
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