Monday, February 13, 2012

Russia

Former Guantanamo Inmate Killed In Russia

(RFE/RL)

June 27, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- A Russian man formerly held at the U.S. detention camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay has been killed in a shootout with Federal Security Service (FSB) officers.

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June 27, 2007

Local prosecutor-general Oleg Zharikov said Ruslan Odizhev was shot dead during a police raid against rebels in Nalchik, the capital of the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, in Russia's Caucasus.

Russian authorities say Odizhev was wanted for his alleged involvement in multiple attacks on police, army, and FSB facilities in Nalchik in October, 2005.

(RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service, with agency reports)

Islam In The North Caucasus

Madrasah students in Khasavyurt, Daghestan (RFE/RL file photo)

SIMMERING TENSIONS: Fatima Tlisova, former North Caucasus editor for the Regnum news agency and a former North Caucasus-based freelancer for RFE/RL, AP, and others, told an RFE/RL briefing that the Russian government is cracking down hard on mosques and Islamic organizations throughout the region.

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Filmmaker Documents Chechen Villagers' Sad Fate

Rights Activist Discusses Difficulties Of Working In Chechnya

Ministry Admits Chechen Resistance Still Poses 'Serious Threat'

RFE/RL's complete coverage of Russia's war-torn Republic of Chechnya.

CHRONOLOGY

An annotated timeline of the Chechnya conflict.

Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

Angry Over Syria, Arab World Threatens Russian Boycott

Groups in a number of Arab states, angry over the Russian-Chinese veto of a UN resolution aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, have called for a one-day boycott of Russian and Chinese goods on February 12. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Protesters gather behind a banner reading "Honest Elections" during a demonstration in Moscow on February 4.

How To Rig An Election

A whistle-blower in Samara explains how the authorities fixed the Duma elections in December -- and plan to do the same in the presidential vote in March. More