#4
ORT Review
www.ortv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba7@bu.edu)
Research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology and Policy
at Boston University
HEADLINES,
Monday, November 19, 2001
- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting up a number of special children's aid programs -- those addressing the treatment of handicapped, orphaned and homeless children, as well as providing special assistance for gifted children.
- A Russian delegation has began work in Kabul. Representatives of the Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Emergencies ministries are to establish contacts with the lawful government of Afghanistan.
- On Sunday, 18 November, Presidential Plenipotentiary to the Southern Federal District Viktor Kazantsev met with [Chechen separatist leader] Maskhadov's emissary, Akhmed Zakaev. The strictly confidential discussions lasted for two hours. No concrete decisions were made. Kazantsev noted that further discussions with Maskhadov are possible and even necessary, but only if they can bring peace to Chechnya, not if they remain purely theoretical. Akhmad Kadyrov [the head of Chechen administration] was also present at the meeting. He suggested that further meetings with Maskhadov's representatives are of no use.
- Nine men suspected of involvement in military actions in Daghestan's Botlikhskii and Novolakskii regions in 1999 were detained by Interior Ministry officers in the Stavropol krai. According to preliminary information, the fighters were trying to take advantage of the bad weather to slip out of Chechnya unnoticed. The detainees have been transported to Makhachkala, where their possible involvement in other crimes will be investigated.
- There is information that the 1998 murder of four hostages (three British citizens and one New Zealander) was paid for by Osama Bin Laden. The Chechen executioners received $30 million for the murder.
- A fire broke out at the Peter and Paul fortress in St. Petersburg. It took firefighters almost an hour to put out the fire on the tower of the Naryshkin bastion. The fortress symbolizes the city's foundation: A cannon located just 15 minutes from the Naryshkin tower salutes at noon every day for almost 300 years. Museum workers suspect arson. Negligence by restoration workers [who are preparing the fortress for St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary, to be celebrated in the summer of 2003] has been ruled out: no work has been performed over the past week.
- The Russian Supreme Court did not overrule a decision by the Moscow Regional Court, which refused to liquidate Eduard Limonov's National-Bolshvik Party. The suit against the party had been brought by the Justice Ministry. The dispute between the ministry and Limonov's party has been going on for several years. It is, however, unlikely, that the party in its current configuration will survive the recent law on political parties.
- Russian Security Council Chairman Vladimir Rushailo is in France on an official visit. He will discuss the situation in Afghanistan as well as practical questions of French-Russian cooperation in the struggle against terrorism with representatives of France's political and military leadership.
- President Putin met with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin today. The presidents signed a Friendship and Cooperation Treaty that emphasized the need for a political solution to the Transdniester crisis. They also discussed a number of other issues, including a number of social questions, the situation in Afghanistan and Moldova's relations with Ukraine.
- A week of celebrations dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of Northern Ossetia, began in the republic today. To mark the beginning of the festivities, eight bells have been mounted in the St. George the Victory-Bearer's Cathedral in Vladikavkaz.
- US Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow has refuted rumors that the American government and Moscow's American embassy are drafting Russian citizens who have had military experience in Afghanistan.
- The trial of Chechen field commander Salman Raduev has been transferred from Daghestan's Supreme Court to the Makhachkala investigative prison for security reasons. This will eliminate the need to transport Raduev between the buildings.
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