Twelve Caucasus natives detained for attacking policemen.

MOSCOW, December 16 (Itar-Tass) - Police have detained 12 natives of
the Caucasus near Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station in Moscow's southwest for
attacking policemen on December 15.
"A group of natives of the North Caucasus was apparently heading for
the city centre when three duty police officers blocked their way. The men
refused to obey the order to disperse. Instead, they attacked and beat up
two policemen," Moscow law enforcers told Itar-Tass.
Police patrols detained the 12 attackers, most of who are the natives
of Dagestan, and took them to the nearest police station. The detainees
may face charges in conformity with Russian laws. The two injured
policemen are receiving medical aid.
Viktor Biryukov, the press service chief of the Moscow Interior
Department, said the Moscow police had detained about 800 people in the
Russian capital on Wednesday, December 15, in a bid to thwart unlawful
actions. He said police had prevented clashes among groups of young people
and that the situation in Moscow was under control.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said police would harshly suppress any
manifestations of violence in Moscow streets. He also urged "hot heads"
not to yield to provocations.

.Geneva to host 14th round of consultations on security in Caucasus.

GENEVA, December 16 (Itar-Tass) - The fourteenth round of discussions
on security and stability in the Caucasus will be held in Geneva on
Thursday. The delegations of the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, Russia,
the United States and the Republic of South Ossetia will participate in
the consultations that are held under the aegis of the United Nations, the
European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe. As usual, there will be two working groups: on security and
humanitarian issues.
In the run-up to the discussions, the Russian Foreign Ministry
focussed on the recent remarks made by the presidents of Abkhazia, Georgia
and South Ossetia that they won't use force against each other.
"This is creating a new situation in the region and will undoubtedly
become the key subject for discussion in the security group. We are
planning to carefully analyse and discuss the approaches set forth in the
aforesaid statements. We will also consider a possibility of providing
legal backing for them through the instruments that the international
community can use," the Russian Foreign Ministry goes on to say.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told a European Parliament
session in Strasbourg late in November that Tbilisi wouldn't try to
resolve the conflict in South Caucasus by force.
"We are interested in starting serous talks with the Russian
leadership. Georgia is putting forward a unilateral initiative never to
use force to restore its territorial integrity despite the fact that at
present one fifth of the country is being occupied by Russian troops,"
Saakashvili said, adding Tbilisi was ready for all-round dialogue with
Russian partners. In turn, the presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
Sergei Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, made official statements that they
would not use force against Georgia in conformity with international law.
Other topics for discussion in Geneva include joint mechanisms for the
prevention and reaction to incidents on Georgia's border with Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. Despite the fact that the situation on the borders remains
stable, we've recently seen a dangerous trend and increase in the number
of these incidents," the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.
As for humanitarian issues, the Russian Foreign Ministry calls for
finding ways of rapprochement of positions on refugees and assistance to
people who urgently need relief aid.
The sides are expected to discuss concrete international projects for
the restoration of gas and water supplies to the border areas of Georgia
and South Ossetia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its communique.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin is heading the Russian
delegation.
Boris Chochiyev, the president's envoy for post-conflict settlement,
is leading the delegation of South Ossetia.
Vyacheslav Chirikba, the president's adviser on international policy,
is heading the Abkhazian delegation while Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy
Bokeria will be at the helm of the Georgian delegation.
Discussions on security and stability in the Caucasus have been held
for two years on the basis of agreements reached by the presidents of
Russia and France after the tragic events in South Ossetia in August 2008.

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