Moscow metro suicide bomber identified

MOSCOW, April 1, 2010, (RIA Novosti) 

The female suicide bomber who set off a bomb at Park Kultury metro station on March 29 has been identified, a source of the Russian security service in the North Caucasus Federal District said.

On Monday, March 29 twin blasts at the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations occurred during the morning rush hour, leaving at least 39 people dead and dozens injured.

"At the moment only the suicide bomber who set off a bomb at the Park Kultury metro station has been identified. She is a resident of Dagestan", the source said, adding that, in the interests of the investigation, her name could not be revealed.

Dagestan is an impoverished region of Russia's volatile North Caucasus.

Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov said on Thursday there was evidence showing the attacks had been carried out by gangs "linked to the north Caucasus." Bortnikov said the service had cast a dragnet for the organizers. He did not indicate how many suspects had been detained, only saying they were being questioned intensively.

Two explosions on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar, near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, killed 12 people and left 29 people injured. The blasts in Dagestan occurred just two days after the bombings of the Moscow metro.

Medvedev says business investment should normalize situation in Caucasus

MAKHACHKALA, April 1, 2010, (RIA Novosti)

Russian businessmen have a responsibility to help improve the economic and social situation in the country's volatile North Caucasus region, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

Medvedev arrived in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan earlier on Thursday, following the recent terrorist attacks in Moscow and the Dagestani town of Kizlyar.

An impoverished, mountainous region, the North Caucasus has been plagued by militant violence for years, with attacks on police, soldiers and officials a daily occurrence. It has also seen two brutal separatist wars in Chechnya.

"Investments should not only be focused on Moscow and abroad; we need to pay our debts," Medvedev said in an address to a meeting in the region's capital of Makhachkala,

Medvedev recently appointed former Krasnoyarsk governor and business executive Alexander Khloponin as presidential envoy to the newly-created North Caucasus Federal District.

Another well-known Russian businessman, Roman Abramovich, served as governor of Russia's most northeasterly Chukotka region from 2000 to 2008. During this period, Abramovich invested over $1.3 billion of his money in the region's economy. As a result, the living standards in Chukotka were significantly improved, attracting investors.

Medvedev said the goal for tougher action against terrorism in the North Caucasus should also focus on developing the region's economy and strengthening moral and spiritual aspects of society.

The Russian president has asked Khloponin to provide "new proposals" on the programs, financial aid and employment in the North Caucasus. Last week Khloponin introduced an ambitious $15-billion project to create a tourist industry in the North Caucasus aiming to attract visitors and create jobs.

Masterminds behind Moscow, Dagestani explosions known: FSB

MOSCOW, April 1, 2010, (Xinhua) --

Head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said Thursday that masterminds behind the consecutive blasts in Moscow and Dagestan have been identified and are being searched for, local media reported.

"The theory that the terrorist attacks were committed by particular gangs connected with the North Caucasus has been confirmed. We personally know the masterminds of the terrorist attacks. A search operation is being conducted," said Bortnikov at a conference hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was on a surprise visit to the restive North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

Medvedev at the conference urged broadening counter terrorism measures while making them "more efficient and tougher."

"We have obtained certain materials and detained a number of people. Interrogations are under way, some evidence has been obtained, and analyses are being carried out," said the FSB chief as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Two female suicide bombers killed 39 in attacks at the Moscow subway system on Monday, which the authorities have linked to militants from North Caucasus.

Two days later, another 12 people, including nine police officers, were killed in two blasts in the Dagestani town of Kizlyar.

Chechen rebel leader claims responsibility for Moscow subway attacks

BEIJING, April 1, 2010, (Xinhuanet) --

Doku Umarov, a Chechen rebel leader, claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the twin suicide bombings on the Moscow subway and threatened more attacks in the Russian heartland, according to the Reuters reports Thursday.

In a video on Islamist rebel website, Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov who calls himself the "Emir of the Caucasus Emirate," said he had ordered the twin suicide bombing in Moscow to "destroy infidels."

On Monday, two female suicide bombers killed at least 39 and injured more than 60 in attacks on the Moscow's subway.

The video was posted just hours after a double bombing killed at least 12 people in Russia's North Caucasus.

Twelve people, including nine police officers, were killed in two blasts on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar in the volatile North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday ordered the government to strengthen security on national transport in response to recent terrorist attacks.

"I have signed a decree today, ordering to build a complex system to guarantee security on transport," Medvedev told the Security Council as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

According to the decree, priority should be put on public transport such as trains and buses to effectively prevent terrorist attacks.

(Agencies)

Two blasts kill 12 in southern Russia's Dagestan

MOSCOW, March 31, 2010, (Xinhua) --

 Twelve people, including nine police officers, were killed in two blasts on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region of Dagestan.

"In the blasts, 12 people have been killed, nine of them were police officers, including the Kizlyar police chief. Twenty-three others have been hospitalized, suffering with various injuries," Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee of Russian Prosecutor General's Office, told the Interfax news agency.

Dagestani authorities has launched a criminal investigation over the two explosions, he said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been informed of the terrorist attacks in Kizlyar.

"Medvedev has also spoken to Dagestan's President Magomedsalam Magomedov over the phone. The president ordered (Dagestani authorities) to provide all-round support for the families of the victims, as well as to provide all necessary assistance, including medical and financial, to the people injured," the press service told Russian media.

In the first explosion happened at 08:30 a.m. Moscow time (0430 GMT), a roadside car was denoted by a suicide bomber when a police car was passing by, killing three people including two police officer, the regional Interior Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov told the Itar-Tass.

As investigators and residents gathering at the scene of the blast, a second bomber dressed as a policeman approached and set off explosives, killing the town's police chief among others, said Vyacheslav Gadzhiyev, another spokesman for the ministry.

Editor: Xiong Tong