Tunisia suggests marking Medvedev's Libyan efforts with prize.

MOSCOW, June 19 (Itar-Tass) - Tunisia suggests marking President
Medvedev's efforts on the Libyan settlement by the Nobel Peace Prize,
Mikhail Margelov, the Russian president's special envoy for Africa, told
journalists on Saturday.
"At our today's meeting the Tunisian foreign minister expressed
confidence that President Medvedev deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his
role in the Libyan settlement. No one has ever put so much strength into
searching for ways of national reconciliation in Libya," Margelov went on
to say.
Margelov visited Tripoli where he had talks with the leadership of
Jamahiriya and then paid a visit to Tunisia. He became the first
high-ranking Russian official to hold talks with the new Tunisian
authorities after the revolution in that northeastern country.
"Today, we have three segments of the mosaic of the Libyan political
elite. They include the position of the government of Jamahiriya in
Tripoli, the Transitional National Council in Benghazi and that part of
the Libyan political elite that has linked up neither with the opposition
nor the Jamahiriya authorities. It is represented by Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam,
" Margelov explained upon his return to Moscow.
"We are now ready to present full understanding of the situation to
the G-8 leaders, and they, for their part, should make a decision,"
Margelov stressed.

.Two Russians enter semi-final of Tchaikovsky music contest.

MOSCOW, June 19 (Itar-Tass) - Two Russians cellists have made their
way into the semi-final of the International Tchaikovsky music concert.
The contest's General Director Richard Rodzinski announced the first round
results in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire on Saturday.
A total of 12 cellists, including two Russians, have made it into the
second round. They include Alexander Ramm, the 22-year-old student of the
Moscow Conservatoire, and Alexei Zhilin, the 24-year-old graduate of the
St. Petersburg Conservatoire.
Other entrants have come from Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Belarus,
Armenia, Sweden, the United States and South Korea.
"It was very difficult to select the future participants in the second
round. Many cellists performed very well but we had to stick to the rules
and reduce the number of participants, " Rodzinski went on to say.
This year the Tchaikovsky music contest is being held in two cities,
Moscow and St. Petersburg, for the first time.
Both cellists and pianists will start competing in the second round on
June 20.
The contest of vocalists kicks off only on July 2.

-0-fil/