21.   Russia says the blockade is part of tighter security measures in the unstable Caucasus region because of the bloody war in Chechnya.

22.   Russia and the other ex-Soviet republics fear strikes on Afghanistan could rock the unstable Muslim region and prompt a refugee exodus.

23.   That would endanger the international coalition and reap further havoc in an already unstable region.

24.   The leaders of Tajikistan, Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan have voiced fears that U.S. strikes on Afghanistan could rock the unstable Muslim region and prompt a massive refugee exodus.

25.   The two republics are located in the mountainous northern Caucasus, an unstable region that also includes breakaway Chechnya.

26.   The timing of the car bomb prompted local media to blame extreme nationalists, who have a long history of terrorism in this unstable region.

27.   Turkey, which borders Iraq and Iran, is a close U.S. ally and is seen by Washington as a pillar of stability in an unstable region.

28.   Until the December coup, Ivory Coast had long been considered a bastion of stability in an unstable region.

29.   With luck, the death of a British soldier will not imperil the will to bring stability in what remains a deeply unstable region.

30.   Ingushetia, a tiny autonomous republic, borders war-torn Chechnya in the unstable North Caucasus region.