DATE=8/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MOSCOW BLAST AFTERMATH (L)
NUMBER=2-265284
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Moscow is bracing for a wave of terrorist
attacks after a bomb killed seven people Tuesday in a
crowded underground walkway in the city center. Most
Muscovites, led by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, say the blast
clearly looks like the work of Chechen rebels, who
were also blamed for a series of bomb attacks last
year. But as Correspondent Peter Heinlein reports
from the Russian capital, President Vladimir Putin is
warning the public not to jump to hasty conclusions.
TEXT: /// SFX OF CONSTRUCTION, THEN FADE TO.///
The morning after the fatal bomb attack, workers were
inside the underground walkway beneath Moscow's famed
Pushkin Square checking for structural damage.
Passersby and curiosity seekers crowded into the
blackened passageway, expressing shock at the extent
of damage and loss of life.
Clerks who worked at the underground kiosks showed up
for work as usual, even though most of the shops were
damaged beyond repair.
Twenty-one-year-old shop assistant Alexander Mikhailov
said he was lucky to have been off duty when the bomb
struck. He said Muscovites have learned to live with
fear.
/// MIKHAILOV ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO. ///
He says - you never know when the next explosion will
take place - we all live with the realization that
anything can explode at any moment.
City officials are urging residents to form
neighborhood watch patrols, as they did last year when
a series of apartment house bombings in Moscow and
other cities killed nearly 300-people. Those bombs
were blamed on Chechen rebels, though little evidence
was produced.
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and other officials say they are
sure the walkway blast is connected with the war in
Chechnya. But investigators were more cautious,
saying only that they would not rule out Chechen
involvement.
/// OPT /// Police issued composite sketches of two
suspects, both of whom had Chechen features, and later
detained two men, one a Chechen and the other from the
neighboring Caucasus region of Dagestan. But
authorities made clear that there was not enough
evidence to charge the pair. /// END OPT ///
Nevertheless, most Muscovites seemed to agree with
their mayor - spurred on by newspaper headlines -
suggesting the Chechen war has reached the city's
streets.
Sixty-five year old shopkeeper Lydia Kosyreva stood in
front of the ruins of her kiosk in the Pushkin Square
passageway Wednesday urging swift retaliatory action
against the Chechens.
/// KOSYREVA ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO. ///
She says - it was Chechens or mercenaries, they are
angry with us Russians - their leaders should be
executed.
But President Vladimir Putin pointed out that there is
no firm evidence linking Chechens to the crime. In
televised remarks, he urged Russians to resist the
temptation to automatically point the finger of blame
at Chechens or any other ethnic minorities.
/// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO. ///
He says - it would be wrong to look for some
nationality trace, a Chechen trace or any other. Mr.
Putin added it is not right to label an entire
nationality, because criminals and terrorists are not
limited to any particular nationality or religion.
/// OPT ///
But several people standing at the scene of the latest
blast pointed out that it was Mr. Putin who blamed
Chechens for last year's series of terrorist blasts.
It was then that he made his often-quoted remark
pledging to wipe out, what he called - terrorists in
the toilet.
Fifty-year old Andrei Mirov said President Putin is
responsible for the wave of anti-Chechen sentiment
sweeping Russia.
/// MIROV ACT IN RUSSIAN, THEN FADE TO. ///
He says - I think Mr. Putin made a big mistake saying
we need to finish them off in the toilet. The leader
of a country with a multi-national tradition should
not make such a provocative statement. /// END OPT
///
The latest blast came on the eve of the anniversary of
Mr. Putin's rise to power. He was appointed prime
minister last August ninth. He later won an easy
victory in presidential elections, largely on the
popularity of his conduct of the war in Chechnya.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PFH/GE/RAE
09-Aug-2000 10:02 AM EDT (09-Aug-2000 1402 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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