GAS SUPPLIES FROM RUSSIA CUT

Russia has temporarily halted gas supplies to Armenia after an explosive device was found near a pipeline. A security official said exports via North Ossetia and Ingushetia were stopped and would not resume until the device was defused. Supplies to Georgia were not affected. The Ingushetia region has been the focus of attacks by Islamist rebels. Militants have been battling pro-Kremlin authorities and Russian security forces in a low-level insurgency in Ingushetia and the Caucasus region for years. It is not known who was behind the planting of the device on the pipeline. Armenia receives about two billion cubic metres of gas a year from Russia via Georgia.