Kavkaz

RUSSIA Early reports of a series of explosions in the capital of Chechnya say at least five people have been killed, policemen among them, according to a Russian agency source. Bystanders near a shop in Grozny said it was the work of suicide bombers, one of them on a bicycle. …

TBILISI, Georgia A Georgian court has remanded in custody the Turkish captain of a tanker detained this week delivering fuel to the breakaway region of Abkhazia, as Tbilisi tries to enforce a blockade on Russian-backed separatists. The captain faces up to 24 years’ imprisonment if found guilty of smuggling and …

TBILISI, Georgia Georgia said Thursday it had seized two cargo ships visiting its rebel Abkhazia region this week, as it steps up efforts to enforce a naval blockade of the Moscow-backed breakaway province. The detentions drew an angry response from Abkhazia’s separatist leadership, which warned it could offer a ‘proportional …

TBILISI/MOSCOW Georgia on Tuesday became the first country to withdraw from the CIS grouping of former Soviet republics in the latest and most blatant sign of rebellion against Moscow in its own backyard. In the wake of its devastating five-day war with Russia last August, Georgia vowed to quit the …

GEORGIA “Even though Georgia officially withdraws CIS membership tomorrow, under 1969 Vienna Convention, it remains party to about 75 international agreements signed within CIS format,” Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David Djalagania told today a traditional briefing. “In August last year, a CIS sovereign country declared war to another sovereign state …

WASHINGTON, US The Pentagon confirmed Friday that it is sending a team of trainers to Georgia to instruct a Georgian battalion which will be deployed to Afghanistan next year. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters at a briefing here that the U.S. trainers will arrive in Georgia on Monday to …

Friendly talks between the leaders of Germany and Russia have been dominated by trade and investment, but also covered human rights. President Dmitry Medvedev and Chancellor Angela Merkel met in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The Kremlin has said the global economic recession presents positive bilateral opportunities. Medvedev said: …

The latest killings illustrating Russia’s difficulty with security along its southern flank were in the early hours of Friday — seven women in Dagestan, where a newspaper editor lost his life on Tuesday. Islamist rebels shot the women at around the same time as separatists killed four policemen at a …

Stockholm – The European Union on Thursday criticized Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia. ‘The EU does not consider this visit compatible with the principle of territorial integrity nor helpful for the international efforts to stabilise the region,’ said a statement issued …

SUKHUMI, Russia Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Wednesday visited Abkhazia, promising to build a military base at its border with Georgia. The Times of London reported Putin chose to travel to Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s capital, on the first anniversary of the cease-fire ending Russia’s war with Georgia.