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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Karachay-Cherkess deputy prime minister assassinated |
| 2004-10-18 |
| A top government leader of a republic in the volatile North Caucasus region that includes Chechnya was gunned down in broad daylight in the center of the republic's capital, Cherkessk, on Monday morning. Ansar Tebuyev, the deputy prime minister of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, was shot dead around 8 a.m. just steps away from the republic's Interior Ministry building, the Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing local police. Earlier reports said he was shot in his car as he was driving to work in the morning. Local police say they have found the car that Tebuyev's assailants were in when they shot at him. The two assailants, who were said to have used AK-47's and a grenade, reportedly drove off immediately after the shooting, witnesses say, and police are still searching for them. The Karachay-Cherkess parliament will hold an extraordinary session on Octo. 19 to discuss crime in the region, the republic's authorities told the news agency. Seven people have gone missing in the republic over the last week. Their families have sent a telegram to the Russian authorities requesting help in finding them. Murders and attacks on business executives and state officials have continued non-stop in the republic over the last few months. Recently, local parliamentarian and forestry head Khakim Shidakov was attacked. Shidakov is currently in hospital in a grave condition. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |