6314
#6
Russia Tracks Bombing Suspects
June 17, 2002
By SERGEI VENYAVSKY
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) - Three men who took part in a 1999 apartment house bombing that killed 18 people are hiding in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Russia's main security service said Monday.
The three men helped plan and carry out the bombing in Volgodonsk, in southern Russia, said Vasily Matyugin, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service.
He said FSB officials not only know their identities but also their address.
The Volgodonsk explosion was one of four 1999 apartment house bombings that killed some 300 people, terrorized the country, and set off a wave of popular support for Russia's second military invasion of Chechnya later that year.
Russian officials blamed the blasts on Chechen rebels, though rebel leaders denied involvement and suggested Russian security services played a role to justify the subsequent military campaign.
In addition to Volgodonsk, two blasts occurred in Moscow, and another in the southern Russian city of Buinaksk. Russian courts have already sentenced 11 men for participation in the bombings.
Matyugin did not give the names of the suspects but said Russia has requested their extradition. A spokesman for Georgia's State Security Ministry refused to comment on the case.
Relations between Russia and Georgia have been strained over Moscow's allegations that Georgian authorities have been harboring rebels from Chechnya. Georgia has refused to let Russian forces flush the rebels out and instead invited some 200 U.S. military instructors to train Georgian soldiers in anti-terrorist tactics.
Back to the Top Next Article
- Back to the Top -