By empty (6/26/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Chechen Interior Minister Alu Alkhanov has blamed Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov for masterminding the recent guerilla attacks on several towns in Ingushetia. \"Our operational data suggest that Basayev and Maskhadov were involved in organizing these attacks,\" Alkhanov said at a news conference at the Interfax central office on Saturday. \"As far as so-called field commanders are concerned, Doku Umarov was directly involved in the attacks and Magomed Yevloyev commanded the attackers,\" he said, calling the attacks \"a guerilla sortie.

By empty (6/26/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Human rights activists have accused security agencies of violating civilians\' rights during operations to search for rebels in Ingushetia. \"Unfortunately, the situation in Ingushetia is beginning to resemble that in Chechnya ten years ago. Searches for rebels in Ingushetia have affected the civilian population and are making people very nervous,\" Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group human rights organization, told Interfax on Saturday.

By empty (6/25/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Diana Abashidze, the daughter of former Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze, has left Batumi. \"If Georgian law enforcement agencies have questions for me, my lawyer Eka Beseliya will answer them,\" she told reporters before leaving Batumi. The Ajarian financial police told Interfax on Friday that the authorities would not prevent Abashidze from leaving Batumi.