The President of Georgia must visit religious institutions of different confessions. Eduard Shevardnadze stated this on Monday in an interview with national radio, Interfax reports. "The president of the country is obliged to visit both the church, and the synagogue and the mosque, since he equally protects the rights of his citizens," Shevardnadze emphasized.

A Russian delegation of 15 high-ranking Muslim and Orthodox religious figures left Russia for Iraq on Monday. On Sunday, the Iraqi ambassador to Moscow, Abbas Khalaf, said that the purpose of the delegation's trip was to meet with the Iraqi leadership and participate in worship services in defense of peace.

According to Petrozavodsk's Unified Duty and Dispatching Service, on Monday evening, starting from the northern regions of the republic, wind intensification up to 17-22 meters per second is expected, and in the north-eastern regions of the republic - up to 20-25 meters per second, snow , a snowstorm, RIA Novosti reports. This weather will continue through the next night.

Germany has closed its embassy in Baghdad, RBC reports citing Welt. On Monday, the entire staff of the German diplomatic missions in Iraq, accompanied by a convoy, was evacuated to Jordan. According to the German Ambassador to Iraq, Claude Elner, the reason for this decision was the threat to security in the event of hostilities. According to Welt, only the embassies of Russia and the Vatican, as well as the mission of the International Red Cross, are currently operating in Iraq.

British government minister Robin Cook submitted his official resignation on Monday in protest of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Iraqi policies. According to the Air Force, Cook, who is the leader of the House of Commons of the English Parliament and one of the key figures of the Labor Party, made this decision after today's emergency government meeting. This is the first resignation of a minister who disagrees with Blair's position on Iraq.

Irman Izhiev among members of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship and Refugees. Ingushetia. Photo from the site www.uic.nnov.ru On March 15, the Chechen human rights activist Imran Ejiev was abducted on the road to Sergeni-Yurt, who heads the regional branch of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. This was reported by Prima. The Volga, in which Ezhiev and his colleague Zaur Kharipov were traveling, stopped Niva and Lada without license plates.

Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia sent letters to US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair urging them to do everything possible to prevent a military operation in Iraq.

"Elements of abuse" were found in the actions of the murdered governor of the Magadan region Valentin Tsvetkov. This was announced to journalists on Monday by Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Vladimir Kolesnikov. "We are investigating what kind of contradictions were between Tsvetkov and unidentified persons that led to the murder of the governor," Vladimir Kolesnikov said. "Usually behind such terrible crimes there is a shadow multi-billion dollar, dirty capital," he stressed.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the war in Iraq is likely to start this week, Reuters reported. Therefore, the country's parliament must decide on the participation of the Australian military in the coming days. Howard said that he did not see the need for a new resolution on Iraq to start hostilities, and said that he supported all the decisions taken by the heads of the United States, Great Britain and Spain at the Azores summit.

Armen Sargsyan, brother of former Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, who was the victim of a terrorist attack in parliament on October 27, 1999, is accused of involvement in the assassination of Tigran Naghdalyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Television and Radio of Armenia. According to PRIMA-NEWS, on March 15, Armen Sarkissian was summoned to the Prosecutor General's Office to testify in connection with the murder of Tigran Naghdalian on December 28 last year.

The UN is withdrawing all personnel from Iraq. This was reported by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, as RIA Novosti reports. According to him, the mandate of the international inspectors "was suspended due to their inability to fulfill their duties." Annan recommended that 156 UN inspectors, additional personnel, humanitarian workers and UN monitors cross the Iraqi-Kuwait border. The departure of the UN inspectors will begin already.

France insists on holding a meeting of the UN Security Council on Iraq on Wednesday. This, according to Reuters, was stated by the French representative to the UN during informal consultations taking place today. His proposal was supported by the representatives of China, Germany, Russia and Pakistan. Representatives of the United States and Great Britain spoke out against.

Three boys born in a young Pirmamedov family in Dashoguz (a regional center in Turkmenistan) were named after their father, brother and the president of Turkmenistan himself - Atamurad, Niyazmurad and Saparmurat. According to RIA "Novosti" with reference to the state information service of Turkmenistan TDH, President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Nizyaov personally congratulated the parents of the triplets and gave valuable gifts to the young family.

UN observers left the demilitarized zone on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. This was reported on Monday by a spokesman for the UN Iraqi-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), according to Reuters.

The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Russia held telephone consultations on the situation around Iraq on Monday, RIA Novosti reports. According to French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasso, the sides discussed the issue of coordinated actions in favor of continuing the work of the international inspection in Iraq and a peaceful settlement of the Iraqi issue. "In addition, new proposals and initiatives were also discussed," Rivasso added.