According to government's information, 267 people were kidnapped over the first half of 2003 in Chechnya

The Chechen government estimates that over the first half of 2003 267 people have been declared missing in the republic.

"A total of 267 people were abducted in the first half of 2003. Five of these crimes have already been solved," the republic's First Deputy Prime Minister Movsar Khamidov, who supervises Chechnya's security agencies, announced on Tuesday.

He also said a total of 564 people had gone missing in Chechnya in 2002.

"We are still seriously concerned about the abductions. Law enforcement agencies have not been doing enough to prevent and solve these crimes," noted Khamidov.