Summary of the main news related to the conflict in Chechnya. Compiled by Prague Watchdog.
Monday, August 4
Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration, asked the Chechen Election Commission to register him as a candidate for the post of the President of the Chechen Republic. Kadyrov became the 10th candidate for the post.
Khasan Dadayev, a resident of Grozny, asked the Chechen Election Commission to register him as a candidate for the post of the President of the Chechen Republic. Dadayev became the 11th candidate for the post.
Tuesday, August 5
Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the Moscow-backed Chechen administration, handed over his duties of
"acting president" of the Chechen Republic to Prime Minister Anatoly Popov and "took a holiday in connection with the Chechen presidential election campaign".
Movladi Udugov's news server Kavkaz-center, whose operation was blocked by the Lithuanian authorities on June 20, resumed operation in Vilnius.
Wednesday, August 6
16-year-old Chechen girl Elza Katsayeva, who was kidnapped by unknown armed men in early August from her house in the village of Samashki, returned home. Hundreds of people from Samashki and other villages of the Achkhoi-Martanovsky district were blocking the Kavkaz road for four days, demanding the release of the kidnapped girl.
Thursday, August 7
Chechen guerrilla fighters shot down Russian military helicopter Mi-8 near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno. Russian sources said that two of the three people on board survived, while one of them died.
The Chechen Election Commission announced that Khusein Jabrailov, a Chechen businessman living in Moscow, and Abdula Bugayev, an unemployed resident of Grozny, separately asked it to register them as candidate for the post of the President of the Chechen Republic. Jabrailov and Bugayev became the 12th and 13th candidate for the post, respectively.
Chechen politician and businessman Malik Saidullayev, who is running for the post of the President of the Chechen Republic, called on other candidates to join forces against Akhmad Kadyrov, who is also running for the post.
Friday, August 8
The US State Department announced that several days earlier US Secretary of State Colin Powell signed an executive order according to which Shamil Basayev is labelled as a terrorist posing a threat to US national interests. In line with the order all Basayev's accounts in the USA shall be freezed.
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