One policeman killed, five wounded in shootout with KB militants.

MOSCOW, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - One special task force police
officer was killed and five servicemen were wounded in a special operation
against militants in highland Kabardino-Balkaria. Also, on Tuesday night,
a Federal Security Colonel was wounded, law-enforcement bodies in the
North Caucasus Federal District (SKFO) told Itar-Tass.
"Fighting continued throughout the night," a high-placed police
officer said, "thermal imaging devices were used to track the militants."
He did not rule out that federal forces were confronting not one gang,
but several, numbering five to eight gunman each.
Speaking about the casualties on the part of federal forces, the
Interior Ministry representative said the special task force police
officer was killed and his five colleagues were wounded when the militants
detected and shelled a recon group. The militants fired from a height and
had an advantage.
Mortars and aviation will be used at the targets in the mountains, he
said.
Law-enforcement bodies said "there is no precise information as to
whether the militants sustained losses. If some of them were killed, the
bodies have been taken away."
An armed group numbering up to seven gunmen opened fire at
law-enforcement personnel on a countryside road linking the Baksan and
Chegem Gorges near the highland village of Bylym, Elbrus district, at
around 17:00, Moscow time, on Tuesday.
National Antiterrorist Committee spokesman Nikolai Sintsov confirmed
that the group of militants had been detected. They refused to surrender
and opened fire. "Three militants were killed in the shootout," he said.
The regional department of the Investigation Committee opened a
criminal case over attempted murder of law-enforcement personnel and
illegal turnover of weapons. A group of investigators went to the scene.
"The arrival of the group of investigators implies that the operation
is finished," an SK official said.


.Putin to hold talks with EU officials over economic issues.

BRUSSELS, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister will hold
intensive talks with the European Commission on Thursday over the pressing
issues of the economic and international agenda.
Deputy Russian government chief of staff Yuri Ushakov said the parties
would consider trade, Russia's access to the World Trade Organization, and
the energy dialogue.
The Russian government notes the European Union's considerable
interest in the visit to Brussels by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a
delegation of high-ranking officials, Ushakov said.
According to him, the Russian premier will have a meeting with head of
the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and president of the European
Union Herman van Rompuy. Russian ministers will hold bilateral meetings
with European commissioners. "We see great interest in the upcoming talks
from the EU side," Ushakov said, adding that participation of some 23
commissioners is planned.
"The results of meetings will be summed up at a plenary session where
the parties will exchange their opinions on the key issues of
cooperation," he went on to say.
The reports on trade and economic cooperation would be made by
Minister for Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina and Agriculture
Minister Yelena Skrynnik. Next, the parties will discuss the industrial
policy, innovations and telecommunication technologies. They will also
consider partnership in the international arena.
A joint news conference will follow the talks, whereupon the
discussion will convert to a format of a working lunch, where they will
examine energy, cooperation in visa affairs and justice. The deputy head
underlined that Rompuy "cut short his international tour to meet Vladimir
Putin".
The discussion will focus on four groups of questions: cooperation by
sectors through the prism of the program "Partnership for modernization";
elaboration on the problems in trade in goods between the European Union
and Russia as a member of the Customs Union; progress towards a visa-free
regime; and international cooperation in the format of the Russia-EU
Committee on foreign policy. "We shall not skip the discussion of the most
acute topics, such as the situation in the Middle East," Ushakov said.
"Rompuy would like to discuss this question with us."
Ushakov specially stressed that no documents are planned to be signed
during the visit: "What will be decided, will be elaborated through
ministries and departments."
Putin is expected to give his opinion about the situation in the
Middle East and North Africa, which "earlier were not carried by the mass
media," he said, adding that "Vladimir Putin has been watching the
situation and has something to say."


.URGENT - Russia postpones launch of booster with new satellite.


MOSCOW, February 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has postponed the launch of
the Soyuz booster with a new generation GLONASS satellite by one day.
"The launch of Soyuz-2.1b with the GLONASS-K unit is postponed, for
technical reasons, by one day - to the reserve date," Space Troops
spokesman Lt-Col Alexei Zolotukhin told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
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