Gunmen kidnap five people at doctor's office

ORDZHONIKIDZEVSKAYA, Russia -- Masked gunmen kidnapped five Chechnya residents from a medical clinic, officials said Friday. Actress Angelina Jolie, on a U.N. goodwill trip, toured a refugee camp, where crowds met her with protests about plans to return them to war-battered Chechnya.

Between 30 to 40 gunmen burst into the clinic Thursday in Ingushetia, next to Chechnya, and forced the five people into trucks, Ingushetia's Interior Ministry said. The ministry said the gunmen apparently shot one of the captives and a doctor was hit in the head with a rifle butt.

A ministry official said on condition of anonymity that police believe the attackers were members of security service of Akhmad Kadyrov, the chief of Chechnya's Moscow-appointed administration.

Kadyrov aides denied the claim and called it an attempt to taint his image before Oct. 5 presidential elections in Chechnya.

Some Chechens say the security service, headed by Kadyrov's son Ramzan, robs, kills and kidnaps civilians with impunity.

Jolie visited a refugee camp near the Ingush village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, and many people in the crowd shouted slogans criticizing Kadyrov and blaming him for plans to close refugee camps. Chechnya's prime minister said last week that the camps in Ingushetia will be closed by Oct. 1, though authorities have backed off similar statements in the past.

Jolie is in Russia as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She was led into two tents at the Bella camp and did not speak to the media. Guards from Russia's Federal Security Service and riot police prevented many camp residents from getting near her.

It was not clear who was chosen to speak to the American movie star. Malika Sagaipova, 29, who has lived in the camp since 1999, said refugees had delegated five women to speak to Jolie but they didn't get the chance.

"We wanted to tell her that the military and Kadyrov's people are moving us out of here. We know that Angelina cannot stop the war in Chechnya, but maybe she will help us stay here," Sagaipova said.

Amnesty International expressed concern Friday that refugees are being returned to Chechnya against their will. Despite assurances that life in Chechnya is returning to normal, the region is plagued by "gross human rights abuses such as 'disappearances,' torture ... and extrajudicial executions," the group said.

Eighteen Russian servicemen were killed in Chechnya in the last 24 hours, an official in the Moscow-backed administration said Friday on condition of anonymity.

Also Friday, 31 prominent Russians challenged President Vladimir Putin on his refusal to negotiate with rebel leaders. Signatories of the appeal included Yelena Bonner, the widow of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, and Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group rights organization.

"Mr. President, what number of Russian servicemen and civilians killed by military action, punitive operations or suicide terrorists would you consider horrifying enough to begin negotiations on ending the war with ... the political leaders of the Chechen separatists?" the signatories asked.

Russian forces have been bogged down in Chechnya since 1999, when they returned to the region after rebel raids on a neighboring region and a series of deadly apartment-house bombings in Russian cities that were blamed on the rebels.

Before that, they fought a 1994-96 war with the separatists that ended in a cease-fire and de facto independence for the region.