The task of the international observers would be to assess the electoral process by reference to national legislation and international election commitments of the Russian Federation and to monitor all aspects of the election campaign as well.

On November 17, the Association of Stavropol Territory's Migrant Organizations "Solidarity" held a concluding meeting on the philanthropic project "Overcoming Informational Barriers".

A conference of constitutors of the Russian national and cultural autonomy was held in Maikop on November 15. It was decided to register the autonomy in the institutions of justice. While grounding such a step, head of the initiative group N. Burkhaylo said the Russian population in Adygeya is actually left now beyond the interests of not only the local ethnocratic regime but also the federal authorities.

The Court of Yerevan's Tsentr and Nork-Marash Communes announced a verdict in the case on the murder of the well-known TV reporter, chairman of the republican Public TV and Radio Company Tigran Nagdalian.

An Arab gangster has been killed in the Vedeno district of Chechnya. Perhaps, this is Abu al-Walid, a notorious mercenary terrorist. Three million rubles were promised for help in arresting him.

The meeting in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi will be apparently a long-term one. Now people supporting the constitutional system and protesting against the authorities' forced dismissal are gathered their.

The conference "Humane Catastrophe in Chechnya and Ways to Achieve Peace" was held at Boston University on November 14 and 16.

This was caused by the letter addressed to the Abkhazian parliament by officers of the law-enforcement agencies of Abkhazia's Gali region. The authors of the letter raise their concern about and negative attitude towards the intention to establish UN Civilian Police in the region.

On November 15, 2003, members of the Council of NGOs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in Azerbaijan made a statement welcoming the verdict of London's Magistrates' Court, which rejected a bid to extradite Akhmed Zakayev - a representative of the Chechen president - to the Russian Federation.

"Mr. Soros decided to seriously interfere in the political affairs in Georgia, but it is not his business," stated Shevardnadze.

The criminal action against Alan Chochiev was caused by his open letter in which he asked to condemn Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze for "carrying out a pro-fascist policy raised to the state level in the republic."

The forum "Young People of Kuban. The Present and the Future" was conducted at the Krasnodar Exhibition Center on November 14. Establishments and youth public organizations, institutions of higher and specialized secondary education, and charitable foundations from 48 municipal areas of the territory participated in the forum.

The action is to take place simultaneously at the Sport Palace, at the City Philharmonic Hall, at Tbilisi's theatres and houses of culture.

"We will peacefully march to the State Chancellery as no law forbids us to hold a meeting near this building," said the leader of the radical Georgian opposition.

The Chechen Cultural and Social Center "Bart" (Agreement) has been successfully functioning in Ufa, Bashkorstan's capital, for 8 years. This public organization headed by Vom-Ali Israilov works to make the lives of more than one and a half thousand Chechens in Bashkorstan a little bit more interesting and diverse.

Co-Chairs of the Society for Kuban-Turkish-Meskhetian Friendship Tamara Karastilyova and Sarvar Tedorov announced that an exhibition of documents and photos is to open in Moscow in mid December and hearings on the discrimination of the Turks-Meskhetians in Krasnodar Territory are also to be held at that time.

It was reported by a spokesman of the regional headquarters on the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Colonel Ilya Shabalkin.

Politicians in the Republic of Nagorny Karabakh believe the negotiation process should be resumed, with Karabakh being its obligatory participant and the Republic of Nagorny Karabakh being recognized as a part in the conflict.

Unknown people reportedly attacked the Foundation's guard at about 10:50 p.m. Moscow time. Four security guards suffered as a result and were taken to the Sklifosofsky Institute of Emergency Care.

On November 14, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan reduced sentences of Alikram Aliyev, leader of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, and Jabrail Alizade, chair of the Union of Baku and Baku Villages.