Home>>World
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 07, 2004

Chechen rebel leader behind Moscow metro blast: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was responsible for the metro explosion that caused over 150 casualties in the morning.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was responsible for the metro explosion that caused over 150 casualties in the morning.

"We need no indirect evidence or confirmation. We know for certain that Maskhadov and his bandits are connected with this terrorist attack," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying.

Putin said crimes of this sort in Russia are inevitably followed by proposals from abroad for talks between the government and terrorists.

This happened after Friday's blast confirming Maskhadov's link with the incident, the Interfax news agency said.

Putin reaffirmed that his country would never hold talks with terrorists, but "destroys them."

The international community is firmly committed to "the unconditional rejection of any dialogue with terrorists since suchcontacts only encourage them to commit new and more serious crimes," Putin said.

Conveying his condolences to all victims and their families affected by the tragedy, Putin described the explosion as a "grave crime".

The president said he does not rule out the possibility of similar actions taking place prior to the upcoming mid-March presidential campaign, adding that the terrorists are using such attacks to put pressure on the government.

He called on the international community to intensify the war on terrorism.

Earlier, the Interior Ministry confirmed that the death toll in the explosion had reached 39 up to 1515 Moscow time (1215 GMT).

Some 120 people have been hospitalized of which 16 are in a serious condition. Of the injured, 98 have been identified.

Experts said the bomb was the equivalent of five kilos of TNT.

The driver operating the train said there was no panic among the passengers and "people were very calm."

Russian police and security services said the blast was a possible terrorist attack and they are now searching for two suspected suicide bombers recorded by metro cameras.


Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced






Explosion hits the Moscow metro, at least 40 killed 



 


China, Wi-Fi fight for WLAN standard ( 4 Messages)

US visa rules anger students ( 13 Messages)

Beijing to build two new Christian churches ( 4 Messages)

Australian PM appalled at attack on Chinese restaurants ( 8 Messages)

China concerned about Japan dispatching troops to Iraq: FM spokeswoman ( 3 Messages)



Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved