Medvedev dismisses Ingushetia president

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday dismissed Murat Zyazikov as president of the southern region of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya, Russian news agencies reported. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, deputy chief of state of the Ural and Volga military region, was named to replace Zyazikov -- a former KGB general who has overseen Ingushetia since 2002 -- on an interim basis, they said. Human rights groups say violence by Islamist fighters and separatist rebels in the mostly Muslim region has reached unprecedented levels since the end of major combat operations in Chechnya several years ago. Zyazikov said he had resigned "willingly" and that his decision was linked to a new post. "I am going to work in Moscow," he told the Interfax news agency. Nevertheless, opposition voices in Ingushetia were pleased with the news of Zyazikov's departure. "The enemy of the Ingushetian people sacked.... Congratulations to all inhabitants of Ingushetia.... Yevkurov is known to be a courageous and honest man," said critical website www.ingushetiya.ru. The owner of the website, Magomed Yevloyev, was fatally shot in a police car after being arrested upon arrival at the local airport at the end of August. Opposition activists have questioned the authorities' claims that his death was accidental and are demanding a murder enquiry. "The bloodshed will stop today, that's for sure," added Rosa Malsagova, editor in chief of ingushetia.org, speaking to the radio station Echo of Moscow. Since 2002, Ingushetians have been subjected to near-daily kidnappings and summary executions blamed on security services, as well as increasing attacks attributed to a shadowy movement of Islamists and pro-Chechen militants. Mashr, a local human rights organisation, lists 178 people it believes have been kidnapped by law-enforcement since the crackdown began in 2002. Last year alone, Memorial, one of Russia's leading human rights groups, recorded 83 murders and 30 kidnappings. Four of the kidnap victims have never been found. Memorial links the surge in attacks to abductions and summary executions by the Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet KGB. "Those who speak of a conflict are sick. The only war is the one to develop construction sites and potato fields," Zyazikov, a former KGB officer, told reporters on a recent visit to the new regional capital Magas. Yevkurov, 45, is considered to be a Russian hero who distinguished himself in 1999 as the head of a unit of Russian parachutists who went into Kosovo and occupied the international airport at the end of the conflict there.