In the Russian capital he will hold meetings with the country top leadership, in the course of which the situation around Iraq and questions concerning the Caucasus, Chechnya and Afghanistan will be discussed.

Georgian ecologists point out the threat of outburst of severe infectious diseases saying that a large number of animal mass burial places are situated along the oil pipeline building route.

The International Monetary Fund has suspended payment of $100 million credit to Azerbaijan due to the unease about the economic policy pursued by the country government.

Due to the (posthumous) awarding of Saint Petersburg former mayor Anatoly Sobchak with "Gratitude" Nagorno Karabakh medal his spouse, member of the Council of Federation of Russia Lyudmila Narusova sent a letter to Nagorno Karabakh Republic president Arkady Ghukasian.

In his words, he is satisfied with the results of Russia's relations with the CIS countries less than with any other issue.

Boeing-737 had to make an emergency landing in Baku, as Armenian airports refused to receive the plane with 131 passengers on board due to bad weather conditions.

Countries, where "respect of political rights and civil liberties is limited" and those "suffering from corruption, law impotence and interethnic and religious hostility" are considered "partly free."

Georgian foreign minister Irakly Menagarishvili displayed official Tbilisi response to Russian parliament deputy, former director of the Federal frontier service of Russia Andrey Nikolayev's statement that it was possible to relocate the Russian bases within 6-7 years instead of the 3 demanded by Georgia.

In the course of the UN General Assembly 57-th session December 20 the 150 organization member countries in fact did not approve of changes in the resolution "On the UN cooperation with the OSCE" proposed by Azerbaijan.

The recent sensational statement of the OSCE Minsk group American co-chairman caused a shock in Azerbaijan. There is a panic in the President’s staff, judging from the statements of the officials surrounding Heydar Aliyev. The statement of Rudolf Perina, which had the effect of a cold shower, made the Baku politicians understand that at present the world community was not ready to recognize the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Karabakh.