DATE=8/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=MOSCOW BLAST (L)
NUMBER=2-265272
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russian police have detained two suspects in
connection with a bomb blast in an underground Moscow
walkway that killed at least seven people and injured
90 others. VOA Moscow correspondent Peter Heinlein
reports both suspects are from Russia's troubled
northern Caucasus region.
TEXT: Russia's domestic security agency says two men
are being questioned about the blast, one an ethnic
Chechen, the other from the neighboring Caucasus
republic of Dagestan. A spokesman says no charges
have been filed, but that investigators could not
exclude that the pair is responsible for the explosion
that ripped through a crowded pedestrian passageway
during the Tuesday evening rush hour.
Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo says officers were
working on the theory that the terrorist attack was a
response to what he called the "counter-terrorism
operation" underway in Chechnya.
Earlier, police released descriptions of two suspects
described as dark-skinned men in their twenties.
Witnesses say the two men left a bag on a table in the
underground walkway and fled moments before the blast.
Meanwhile, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is urging Muscovites to
mobilize into neighborhood security teams to guard
against further terrorist attacks.
Such neighborhood groups sprung into action last year
after a series of apartment building bombings killed
more than 300 people.
Interior Minister Rushailo went on television to try
to reassure frightened citizens.
///Rushailo act in Russian, then fade
to.///
He says, "Interior troops will be out on the streets
and anywhere there are crowds of people, doing
identity checks on public transportation." He said
every precaution will be taken to prevent a repeat of
the terror that gripped Moscow in the wake of last
year's bomb attacks.
Those bombings were blamed on Chechens, though no
proof was ever found. Mayor Luzhkov said Wednesday he
is sure the latest attack was the work of Chechen
terrorists. But Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov's
office issued a statement denying responsibility.
President Vladimir Putin is taking personal charge of
the investigation, which came on the eve of the first
anniversary of his rise to power. He was appointed
prime minister on August ninth last year, and was
later elected president, largely on the popularity of
his conduct of the Chechen war. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE
09-Aug-2000 05:26 AM LOC (09-Aug-2000 0926 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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