All news

May 05, 2004 20:23

• Head of Adjaria to make statement tonight

  As reported by Reuters with reference to Tamara Gudava, press secretary of the Adjarian leader, Abashidze will speak "about the worsening situation in the region, as well as about the talks that have been conducted during the day."

May 05, 2004 20:14

• Direct presidential rule to be established in Adjaria after Abashidze's resignation

  The president of Georgia plans to establish direct presidential rule in the Adjarian autonomy from the moment when Aslan Abashidze resigns as head of Adjaria and until a new local government is elected.

May 05, 2004 19:36

• Georgian editorial staff of Adjarian television leave workplaces

  "We find it impossible to work when women and children are beaten and we can't show it since every step we take is under control of up to 50 officers of special services. The time has come at last when the television will be given back to the Adjarian people," they said.

May 05, 2004 18:30

• No police cordons at avenues of approach to Batumi

  Edvard Surmanidze, co-chairman of the opposition movement Our Adjaria, told it to thousands of opposition supporters holding a meeting in the center of Batumi.

May 05, 2004 18:09

• Abashidze's supporters remove cordon at Adjaria's administrative border

  Talks between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Adjarian Interior Minister Djemal Gogitidze are expected to take place in the neutral zone in a short time.

May 05, 2004 17:46

• Karabakh can be cleared from mines in 5-7 years

  For the years of its work in Nagorny Karabakh, The HALO Trust, a British organization, has cleared from mines 524 thousand square meters of land and has neutralized 3,377 mines and 26,396 items of unexploded ordnance.

May 05, 2004 16:32

• Georgian leadership expect Abashidze to resign today

  "We expect Abashidze to resign already today. Otherwise the opposition holding mass meetings may become uncontrollable, and then developments may not be in his [Abashidze's] favor," Georgian state minister Georgy Khaindrava said.

May 05, 2004 16:14

• Oil terminal in port of Batumi, Chakvsky bridge mine-strewn

  Both the terminal and the bridge were mined as early as May 1, the source at the Georgian National Security Council.

May 05, 2004 14:24

• Death toll from two Chechen campaigns estimated at 25 thousand servicemen

  The Union of Russian Committees of Soldier's Mothers gives such data.

May 05, 2004 13:46

• No less than 10 Russian servicemen died in Chechnya for one day

  The Associated Press reported it on May 4 referring to the Moscow-backed government of the republic.

May 05, 2004 13:25

• Abashidze's units stop opposition activists from Tbilisi at Adjarian administrative border

  A column of cars with the opposition activists left Tbilisi for Batumi on the night of May 4-5. They want to join participants in the actions taking place in Adjaria with the demand of Aslan Abashidze's resignation.

May 05, 2004 13:01

• Abashidze's armed supporters control center of Adjarian capital

  The situation in Batumi is heated, buses full of adversaries of the Adjarian leader are on their way from other regions of the autonomy and from Tbilisi to Batumi.

May 05, 2004 12:24

• Adjarian opposition demands resignation of Abashidze, two persons suffer from night clashes

  A meeting of the Adjarian opposition is continuing in Batumi. Its participants are demanding the resignation of Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze. The opponents of the Adjarian leader from all the districts of the autonomous republic participated in the protest actions all throughout the past night.

May 04, 2004 14:40

• Batumi students demand Abashidze's resignation

  "We protest against our being Abashidze's official hostages after the explosions of bridges," action participants said.

May 04, 2004 14:13

• Tbilisi officials call Abashidze 'madman'

  "Explosions of bridges by a madman are not called a conflict, though this is a very complicated situation for the population," Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili said.

May 04, 2004 13:48

• Adjarian leader denies Russian general's involvement in bridge explosions

  "General Netkachev is in Moscow now," Aslan Abashidze said.

May 04, 2004 13:45

• Two caches with mortar shells liquidated in Chechnya

  One cache was disclosed near the village of Mesker-Yurt in the Shali district. Besides, mortar shells concealed in a cleft and masked with branches were found near the village of Dargo in the Vedeno district.

May 04, 2004 12:51

• Chechen separatist leader does not personally take part in combat operations

  Akhmed Zakayev, Maskhadov's emissary in Europe, announced it commenting on the information that the separatist leader had been wounded in Chechnya.

May 04, 2004 12:35

• Military disperse demonstration in Batumi

  They are using wooden truncheons against the demonstrators. Some people have already suffered. The people have been squirted on from a water cannon.

May 04, 2004 11:48

• Yamadaev survives 2 attempts on his life

  One of the homemade bombs went off in Gudermes, another on the Kavkaz ("Caucasus") federal highway.