Russia Sends More Warships to Indian Ocean Somali Pirates Hold Supertanker Hostage
Charles Ganske
Pirates based in lawless regions of Somalia have become increasingly brazen in their attacks on merchant ships in the Indian Ocean.
The Russian Navy announced yesterday that it is sending another warship to the Indian Ocean to protect surface shipping from pirates. The Russian frigate is being dispatched after pirate gangs based in Somalia seized a supertanker near the Horn of Africa. The Sirius Star, a Saudi-flagged supertanker carrying two million barrels of crude, was seized this week by pirates operating nearly 500 miles off the coast of eastern Africa.
The Star is one of the largest vessels of its kind in the world, roughly the size of a U.S. aircraft carrier, and is manned by a 25-man multinational crew. Somali pirates are demanding millions in ransom money to release the ship and its crew. Unless their demands are met within ten days, the pirates have threatened to harm the crewmembers and hinted at causing a catastrophic oil spill. The Somali pirates are employing not only the traditional cigarette speedboats to attack merchantmen close to the coast, but also "mother ships", GPS devices and satellite phones that can extend their reach hundreds of miles offshore.
VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia - RIA Novosti reports that as many as 11 people were killed and 43 were injured on Thursday in an explosion at a bus stop in the center of the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia. The chief doctor at the hospital treating the wounded said most of the casualties were students aged 17 or 18.
Police reports put the death toll at 11, while the republic's Health Ministry said 10 people died. A police source said the blast was probably caused by an explosive device set off outside a public minibus as passengers got off. The North Ossetian president's press service said a suicide bomber could have detonated the device, which was equivalent to 300-500 grams (0.7-1.1 lbs) of TNT and stuffed with shrapnel to increase the killing power.
Russian Plane Hijackers: Drunks in Need of Attention
Yuri Mamchur
Russia has witnessed a lot of terrorist attacks in the past, including bombings of passenger airliners. These tragic events have led to very tight security measures and low passenger tolerance towards potential hijackers.
In the last 10 days, Russian airlines witnessed two new “attacks.” The first one happened on October 15, when a passenger on a Turkish Airlines A320, travelling from Antalya to St. Petersburg, passed a note to the pilots demanding to land the aircraft in Strasburg. Otherwise, he threatened to detonate explosives and take down the airplane with all of the passengers. When the “hijacker” tried to approach the pilots’ cabin, he was tackled and beaten by the passengers. The plane landed, as originally planned, in St. Petersburg. The investigators found no explosives on the now thoroughly beaten hijacker. He was a leader of a non-existent self-proclaimed political party who simply wanted to “gain the media attention.” He gained more than that; little attention, but plenty of injuries and jail time.
Today, on October 24, one of the passengers on a Russian Sky Express Boeing 737, travelling from the resort city of Sochi to Moscow, passed a note to the pilots. He wanted to go to Vienna, or else… the usual threats. The pilots landed the plane in Moscow where the FSB, ambulances, police, and counter-terrorist SWAT teams were ready to storm the plane. The “terrorist” happened to be a drunken passenger who had been recently released from a mental institution. In 2002, Oleg Vasyanovich, the self-proclaimed “terrorist,” killed his own mother. The court found him mentally ill and sentenced him to mandatory psychiatric treatment. Mr. Vasyanovich was released on Friday from the psychiatric institution where he was undergoing therapy. He immediately bought a plane ticket, got drunk, and decided to become a terrorist. It is unclear at this moment whether Mr. Vasyanovich will have to return to the mental institution, or if he will face up to eight years in prison.
Olmert Meets with Medvedev; Israel Presses Russia on Arms Sales to Iran
Yuri Mamchur
Israeli Prime-Minister Ehud Olmert and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow (Photo by Itar-Tass)
The sale of S-300 surface to air missiles by Russia to Iran has not been confirmed either by Moscow or Teheran. However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Russia against selling weapons to Iran in his meetings with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday and Tuesday. The best version of the S-300 system, known by NATO as the SA-20, can track 100 targets and fire on planes 120 kilometers away. Hours before Olmert’s arrival, Rosoboronexport, the Russian arms export agency, said that it had no information on Russian plans to deliver the SAM system to either Iran or Syria, reported Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said: “Iran’s defensive might is based on our indigenous capabilities, and whatever action that helps with expanding and strengthening our military and defensive might, we’ll look into that. We have good defense cooperation with the Russians. One example would be anti-aircraft systems. We have had good cooperation and we continue to cooperate with them.”
Terrorists Attack Southern Russia On Russian Independence Day
Yuri Mamchur
Terrorists set houses on fire, and killed and kidnapped civilians in the small Chechen town of Benoy-Vedeno. The attack may have been coordinated with other terrorist acts in the Caucuses.
June 12 was Russia’s Independence Day. Generally, Russians do not quite understand why this holiday celebrates “independence,” and who exactly the Russians gained their independence from in June 1990. However, this year the evening of and the morning after the holiday were marked by explosions, shootings, killings, house burnings, and kidnappings that occurred in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia, all during the same 12 hours.
First, the Russian Republic of Dagestan saw a powerful explosion at 5:40 am. The bomb was detonated in downtown Makhachkala, just 150 meters (450 feet) from the city administration building. One 48-year-old jogger was severely injured in the blast, and died on the way to the hospital.
A few hours later, a grocery store in Nazran (Ingushetia) suffered a powerful explosion that killed four people, including a 14-year-old girl. Local authorities said that the explosion was caused by household gas. Whether this is true or not, the cruel murders, kidnappings and house-burnings that took place in Chechen town of Benoy-Vedeno were clearly caused by Islamic terrorists.
Kids walking home from school in Gudermes, Chechnya (Photo by the New York Times)
Many positive political and economic developments are taking place in Moscow. Russia Blog has noticed that many of these events have been ignored since the election of the new Russian President, Dimitry Medvedev. The doom-and-gloom scenario predicted by many Washington think-tanks did not take place, and many scholars and journalists hostile to Russia ran out of negative steam relatively fast.
Serious news reporting about the war-torn Caucasus region of Chechnya has disappeared from the Western media coverage as well. Chechnya and its capital city of Grozny are in far better shape today than they were just three years ago. Nearly half a million Chechen refugees have returned to their homes and nearly 100,000 private businesses have been started in the recovering region. However, terrorism remains a problem, and minor attacks on Chechen and Russian security forces still take place on a weekly basis.
For more detailed reporting and analysis of the terrorist attacks happening in the region, please visit the website of the Russia-Eurasia Daily Watch.
A Russia Today TV news clip about the apparent terrorist attack
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed today that a 4.5 pound bomb exploded on an express train between Moscow and St. Petersburg last night. The explosion happened at 10:43 p.m. local time while the train was travelling through the Novgorod region approximately 310 miles north of Moscow. The blast was powerful enough to derail twelve passengers cars and one locomotive. At least sixty people were seriously injured as a result of the attack.
Russian prosecutors believe that at least one of the suspects may have been captured on video surveillance footage. After diverting more than fifty trains following the attack, Russian Railways repaired the damaged section of track today and resumed regular train service between Moscow and St. Petersburg this evening.
Click on the links to the BBC and RIA Novosti to read more updates on this story.
The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the North African branch of Al-Qaeda, has claimed credit for a roadside bomb attack that killed a Russian engineer last Saturday.
"Mujahedeen (Islamic warriors) using a high intensity bomb targeted the convoy of Russian infidels working for the Russian company Stroytransgaz," according to the statement signed by the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Maghreb..."We dedicate this modest conquest to our Muslim brothers in Chechnya ... victims of the criminal (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."
Three Algerians who were in the same minibus with the foreigners also died in the bombing, and four Britons, a Canadian, and two Lebanese nationals were wounded. This is the first successful attack on foreign workers in Algeria since December.
While there has been a lot of talk lately about a new Cold War brewing between the U.S. and Russia, it is important to remember who is the real enemy of the civilized world - the international jihadist movement. In the last decade, Russian citizens have frequently been targeted by jihadists, but today Chechnya is more stable than it has been at any time since 1994. The successful counterinsurgency in Chechnya should give Americans hope that terrorists can be defeated, and that populations taken hostage by terrorism can eventually be turned against their captors.
German police have told the Berliner Zeitung this week that they are looking into the possibility that radiation poisoning victim Alexander Litvinenko and his associate Dimitry Kovtun were involved in smuggling polonium out of Russia. According to RIA Novosti, one German police source told the Berliner Zeitung that the polonium 210 shipment that killed Litvinenko could have been valued at $25 million. German detectives have found traces of polonium in Dimitry Kovtun's apartment in Hamburg, and Russian investigators are treating him as a potential witness in the murder case.
Mr. Kovtun, a former member of the FSB who now works as a businessman, has denied any involvement in the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko. Andrei Lugovoy, who worked as a bodyguard for Boris Berezovsky in the late 1990s, has also proclaimed his innocence. Both men met with Alexander Litvinenko on November 1, a few hours before the ex-FSB agent became violently ill with radiation poisoning. Both have now undergone medical examinations to determine if they were irradiated, with the results likely to be returned by Friday. For investigators, determining Lugovoy and Kovtun's radiation exposure levels could prove to be very important in assembling their case.
Special Report by The Real Russia Project of Discovery Institute
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. media’s overarching, if unspoken, perception of Russia and Eastern Europe is that this region doesn’t matter much any more. Though some still see Russia as a dangerous enemy, most mainstream media appear to have lost interest in what happens there, except for occasional sensational events. As a result, there is inadequate awareness in America of the fascinating cultural, political and economic developments taking place in today’s Russia.
Relying on old Cold War stereotypes ignores centuries of Russia’s history and shows a lack of curiosity about its future. Such indifference is not in the interest of America or its citizens, and it threatens to shut down imagination about potential cooperative relations with Russia and her neighbors. The Real Russia Project aims to focus on the emerging new Russia with accurate and fair reporting and analysis—without fear or favor.
Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami - "reformist" or figurehead?
Many gifted writers and people who were close enough to smell the ashes have written retrospectives this weekend about today's anniversary. Many commentators have asked what our country has learned, if anything, from the last five years of war with Islamic fascists.
In terms of the West's will to win the struggle and the question of whether we actually believe in our stated values, I could only think of the stark contrast between Alexaksandr Solzhenytsin's commencement address in 1978 and this week's speech by former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami at Harvard. The contrast between the two messages is that between wounds from a friend and kisses from an enemy.
Today is the second anniversary of the bloody end to the siege of school number one in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. The website PravdaBeslana ("Beslan Truth") has posted in its entireity C.J. Chivers' article "The School" from the June 1, 2006 issue of Esquire magazine. I hope Esquire's editors will understand that this is a public service and will allow the whole text to remain freely available on the web.
For anyone still wondering how the terrorists carried out this atrocity or why the response from Russian security forces was agonizingly slow for the hostages held captive for over 48 hours, it is useful reading. I got the same sickening feeling in my stomach when I started to read this piece as I did watching United 93's depiction of the beautiful, uneventful dawn of September 11, 2001.
MOSCOW -- Yesterday a bombing occurred at Cherkizovsky, one of the city's largest open air marketplaces. Ten people are dead and forty injured. A little town within the big city, the Chekizovsky market sells textiles and household items. The majority of business owners leasing space at the market are immigrants from former Soviet republics, mostly people from the Caucuses; and yesterday they were targeted by skinhead terrorists.
This explosion is the first terrorist violence Moscow has suffered in many months. What is most disturbing to Russians and foreigners alike is that the attack was not work of Chechen jihadists or other Islamist terrorists. Instead, the bomb was likely placed by homegrown Slavic fascists, to target Russia’s minorities.
Russia Blog has discussed the problem of neo-fascism and racist violence in Russia in several posts (see the Crime section). Last May Day, skinheads proudly marched through the streets of Moscow, chanting anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-black slogans. Yesterday the skinheads dramatically escalated their war on Russia’s minorities from racist attacks on individuals to terrorism against ethnic community landmarks.
Today there were two well-executed terrorist attacks against government officials in Dagestan, a southern province of Russia. Dagestan is Russia's southernmost republic and borders the war-torn province of Chechnya. Although Chechnya is more peaceful than at any time since 1994, a few separatists still want to shatter the fragile peace in the region. Terrorist gunmen ambushed two state officials and their bodyguards in two separate roadside attacks. As a result, the General Prosecutor (prokuror) of the city of Buynaks is dead, the head of the Dagestan’s police force was severely injured, and several policemen and innocent civilians were killed.
The first attack began a few minutes after Bitar Bitarov, the general prosecutor for the city of Buynaks, left home for work. Terrorists detonated a roadside bomb near Bitarov's Mercedes 600 sedan and two other cars carrying his bodyguards. After detonating the bomb, terrorists opened fire on the convoy with machine guns. The general prosecutor lost his arm in the explosion and was shot several times. Mr. Bitarov died from his wounds a few hours later in a nearby hospital. Mr. Bitarov’s driver and bodyguards were also treated in the emergency room.
Putin Condemns Hezbollah, Supports Israel; Kadyrov Kills More Terrorists
Yuri Mamchur
Prince Saud Al-Feisal and President Putin in Moscow
With the world’s headlines currently dominated by news from the Israeli-Hezbollah War, it's surprising how few English-language media outlets have noticed the statement President Putin delivered yesterday in Moscow, after his meeting with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Saud Al-Feisal. Putin said “Russia condemns any attempts to solve any problems through resorting to terrorism…the state of Israel has a right to live in peace and it should exercise it.”
While Putin was visiting with the Saudi Minister, Chechen Prime-Minister Ramzan Kadyrov was visiting Russian youth organizations for a political summer session on Lake Seliger (located between Moscow and St Petersburg), where he announced that two more Chechen terrorist commanders have been neutralized; with one killed and another captured. Hozh-Ahmed Dushayev, the “Emir” of Kurchaloevsky Region and his partner were responsible for the most recent terrorist attacks in the now peaceful province of Russia.
Basayev having the remains of his foot surgically removed
CNN is reporting this morning that Shamil Basayev, the terrorist who bragged about planning the Beslan massacre, has been killed by Russian security forces. This victory is far more important to Russians than the killing of Zarqawi was for the Americans in Iraq - this is the equivalent of us nailing Osama Bin Laden.
Russian television showed Patrushev meeting Monday with Putin to tell him about the special operation in Ingushetia -- a republic bordering Chechnya -- in which Basayev was killed in the early morning hours of Monday.
The Russian agents exploded a truck bomb next to several cars in which Basayev and other rebels were riding, according to Interfax, which was quoting Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev.
"This is retaliation he deserves for killing our children in Beslan, Budennovsk, all the terrorist acts his bandits perpetrated in Moscow and other regions of Russia, including Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic," Patrushev said in an Interfax report.
Law enforcement officials in Ingushetia told Interfax Basayev's body was in pieces but it was identified by his head and by the fact that he had earlier lost a foot.
Twelve other Chechen rebels were killed in the operation, the official said.
A statement on website www.kavkazcenter.com said the Chechen rebel leadership was not making any comment yet, Reuters news agency said.
The U.N. Security Council put Basayev on its official terrorist list last year after Washington classified him as a threat to the United States.
Russia Blog congratulates the Russian security forces for a job well done. We know that Basayev's death is small comfort to the families of his victims, but it is a huge step towards peace and prosperity in the Caucuses and another stinging defeat for the global jihad.
UPDATE1: Russian newspapers are quoting President Bush's comment this afternoon at the G-8 Summit press conference, "If this is the person who planned the murders of the children of Beslan, he got what he deserved."
UPDATE2: U.S. Army National Guard Captain Jason Van Steewyk echoes my thoughts exactly about how, even in death, the AP cannot bring itself to use the t-word for a child killer.
UPDATE3: The latest AP story today uses the word "terrorized" and describes Basayev as a "ruthless warlord". Perhaps I spoke too soon.
Click on the extended post to see Shamil Basayev's legacy - WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Human Right Group Calls Putin’s Order to Kill Terrorists Illegal; Duma Makes It Legal
Yuri Mamchur
Russian Spetsnaz squad in action
After Putin’s recent order to “find and destroy” the Islamic terrorists who killed Russian embassy workers in Iraq, several human rights organizations like “Memorial” and Committee “Citizenship Cooperation” (Grazhdanskoe Sodeystvie) accused Putin of being authoritarian and ignorant of UN conventions and international law. Yesterday, the Duma ignored this criticism of the president and instead expressed their support for his firm message. By unanimously approving an entire packet of anti-terrorism bills in their most conservative form, the Russian Parliament moved past earlier debates and granted the President new powers and funds to counter international terrorism.
According to one new law, the president can now order Russian spetsnaz or intelligence groups to execute operations in foreign countries. The new law was tempered by a provision mandating that the President needs the Federal Assembly’s approval before he can utilize Russian military forces. Anatoly Kulikov, the former chief of MVD (Russian police) and current Member of Parliament, explained that the President, as Commander-in-Chief, did not get any extraordinary powers in the new bill. The purpose of the bill is simply to make Russian citizens feel safer while travelling and working abroad.
Moscow- Mayor Yuri Luzhkov is hosting Saudi prince Salman bin Abdel Asis al Saud in Moscow this week. On Wednesday President Putin personally met with the prince and chose this particular meeting to announce to the world Russia’s response to the jihadists who murdered four Russian diplomatic workers last week in Iraq: “find and destroy”.
Not many people in the world are aware that since Putin was appointed President in 1999, Russia has revived its tradition of hunting down terrorists abroad. Given the traditional centralization of powers in Russia and the common national goal of revenge, there will be no Russian newspapers posting details about ongoing counterterrorist operations on their front pages, as happens with the New York Times in America. The Russian Duma is also not the U.S. Congress; Putin’s order “to kill” has elicited nary a word of dissent.
Last week, four kidnapped Russian embassy workers were murdered by terrorists in Iraq. You can download a video that includes verses about jihad, the beheading of one hostage, and another hostage being shot in the head. You can read media coverage of this sickening act from Reuters, Euronews, BBC and CNN.
RussiaBlog would like to note three facts not widely mentioned in the Western media. First of all, the Russian Foreign Ministry blames the United States and Coalition forces for not providing better security around the embassies in Baghdad. While it is difficult to hold someone legally responsible for atrocities committed by fanatics, the Russian Foreign Ministry does have a point: why was it so easy to kidnap diplomatic workers only 1,000 feet away from their embassy?
Russian Diplomats Have 48 Hours to Live; Chechen Terrorist Commander Killed
Yuri Mamchur
The Mujahadeen Shura Council in Iraq logo
To my great surprise, none of the major U.S. networks are reporting at this hour about the four Russian diplomats kidnapped earlier this month in Iraq. Today their kidnappers announced that the diplomats will be executed in 48 hours unless Russia agrees to their demands.
On June 3, 2006, a Chevrolet Tahoe carrying five Russian diplomats was cut off by a mini-van and a sedan just 1,200 feet away from the Russian embassy in Baghdad. The diplomats were shot at by gunmen armed with assault rifles. Vitaliy Titov, one of the diplomats, was severely wounded and died later that day. Four more embassy workers were kidnapped.
Today, some organization calling itself “The Mujahadeen Shura Council in Iraq” announced that “even though Russia didn’t participate in the Iraqi invasion, its government was supportive of the Crusader American invasion”. Now the “council” wants Russian Federal forces (police and army) to withdraw from Chechnya and free all Muslim prisoners in Russia within 48 hours, otherwise the diplomats will be executed. The leaders of Mujahideen Shura Council added: “But we say to those people that we do jihad against the enemies of Allah and make His Rulings prevail everywhere in the land. For us every Muslim in the world is a brother, and for him, we sacrifice our money and our people if he encounters anything. How can you ask us to forget what the weakened Muslims are encountering from the Russian government and its people?”
Yesterday Chechnya celebrated the 100 days of Ramzan Kadyrov being prime minister of the state. Ramzan Kadyrov is son of assassinated president Akhmad Kadyrov. He is very popular among common Chechens and also is a good friend with the Kremlin. Since Putin managed to get this twenty nine year old Chechen on his side, the violence in Chechnya has dropped almost to zero; Chechnya got its first centralized government in history; many schools, hospitals and bridges destroyed by a decade of war have been rebuilt.
Kadyrov has a genuine 85% approval rating by Chechens, while being fully backed and supported by the Kremlin. One hundred days ago he gave a promise to Chechens that he would leave his position, if the population and the parliament weren’t satisfied with his work. Through the day Kadyrov was very busy, and even didn’t show up at some of the events celebrating the beginning of operations of a new middle school, new dance club, new hospital, new bridge, new stadium named “Ramzan”, etc.
Immediately after hearing Vice President Dick Cheney’s negative remarks about Russia, I thought to myself: things just don’t connect. Cheney's comments outraged both Russians and Americans alike, especially some people I know well who have spent considerable time in both countries. A good friend of mine who is an American lawyer, and has been doing business (and supporting the GOP) in Russia for nearly twenty years was dumbstruck by the Vice President’s remarks.
At the same time, I have been trying to decide what to write about Putin’s annual address to the Russian nation. Unfortunately, two long business trips prevented me from spending time on either topic.
So today, when I didn’t find any immediate Russian news to report, I decided to simply write about Russia as it is today, in the here and now. Recent events lend themselves to just such an informative and critical overview.
By now I’m sure you have heard about Hamas visiting Moscow, and Russia's demographic crisis, with the country possibly losing 1/3rd of its 140 million people by 2040. There is also the ongoing tragedy of Russian army conscripts being brutalized by their comrades, with some losing body parts and others going AWOL or committing suicide to escape daily torment at the hands of their comrades. Many of the same thugs who torture their fellow soldiers also display their adolescent ultranationalism by joining skinhead groups and killing blacks and gays.
Why Did Russian Intelligence Pass Secrets to Saddam?
Charles Ganske
By now nearly every major U.S. news outlet and numerous blogs have commented on the Pentagon's release of captured Iraqi documents revealing that Russian intelligence officers were supplying Saddam information on American battle plans before the U.S.-led invasion. Reports of Russian involvement in pre-war Iraq have circulated since 2002, starting with allegations from Israeli and Pentagon sources that Russians helped Saddam hide his weapons of mass destruction in Syria.
RIA Novosti is reporting the Russian Foreign Ministry's vehement denials. The Foreign Ministry suggests that the Americans are just trying to distract their people from the growing Sunni-Shi'a violence in Iraq. It doesn't help the Foreign Ministry's case that the documents appear authentic, consistent with other Iraqi Intelligence Services (IIS) memoranda. It also doesn't help that one Russian retired general took credit in 2003 for teaching the Iraqis how to resist the American invaders the way Red Army fought the Germans during World War II. Retired generals of course, are free to say and do nearly anything they want, and several in the U.S. have harshly criticized the decision to invade Iraq. But perhaps the Foreign Ministry would have more credibility if it acknowledged that several former Russian intelligence officers and ranking military officers were in Iraq just days before the war began.
Moscow Composer Escapes Car Bomb, Novgorod Factory Manager Shot
Yuri Mamchur
The Bush Administration, after condemning last week’s elections in Belarus as rigged, has declared this week’s parliamentary elections in Ukraine to be relatively "free and fair".
Meanwhile, yesterday in Russia, there were two major suspected mob incidents and one police shootout that resulted in several dead terrorists.
Moscow, Russia – Someone wired the car of Vladislav Kazenin, President of the Russian Union of Composers, with a bomb. However the bomb maker did a poor job of wiring the device to Kazenin’s Audi A-6 sedan. When Kazenin and his driver left the Union’s building, they found one of the car’s windows smashed. They carefully searched the vehicle and found a grenade with wires tied into the seat. They called the police, who dispatched the bomb squad to disarm the device. No one was hurt in the incident.
Novgorod, Russia - At 9:45 pm Moscow time, Vladimir Dugenez, the general manager of a local automobile factory, was shot repeatedly by several gunmen armed with automatic rifles. Mr. Dugenez was wounded in the head, chest, arms and stomach. Mr. Dugenez is being treated at a local medical facility. The attack is likely “business-related” and is typical of Russian organized crime.
Russian Police Kill Terrorist Commander in Dagestan
Hasavyurt, Dagestan (Russian state bordering Chechnya) – Russian police conducted a successful operation against jihad terrorists holed up inside an abandoned house. There were no casualties reported among the Russian policemen, and they still don’t know how many terrorists were killed. The police unit was apparently determined to take no chances, and the house was reduced to rubble. What is known at this hour is that one of the terrorists holed up inside was identified as the so-called “Emir” of Hasavyurt, Samir Pashayev. Russian police are still identifying the rest of the bodies.
Reuters latest headline(March-07-06 12:50 PST) is "Rice, Lavrov expose widening U.S.-Russia rift". The story talks about how the U.S. and Russia are supposedly deeply divided over how to engage the Middle East, because the Kremlin invited Hamas leaders to Moscow and has offered to enrich Iran's uranium in Russian reactors.
Russia's diplomatic moves on Iran and Hamas come amid rising strains over what Washington sees as President Vladimir Putin's increasing grip on power, one that belies his status as chair of July's summit of the Group of Eight industrialized democracies.
On Tuesday, Rice and Lavrov stood stiffly and at one point the Russian had to reassure Rice, a former Soviet specialist, he had not planted a question from a Russian journalist about trade. "You confirm that you did not (plant it), right?" said Rice, who has complained about the erosion of media freedoms under Putin. That sense of suspicion contrasted with the early days of Bush's presidency when Bush said he trusted Putin after looking into his soul.
While it is unfortunate to see Rice and Lavrov sparring in front of the cameras, once you get past the hype to substance, these apparent differences seem trivial. Hamas, as we've reported here at Russia Blog, received nothing but headlines in Moscow, and its representatives were humiliated. The Kremlin repeated the U.S. position that Hamas must renounce terrorism and enter negotiations with Israel. We've also reported at Russia Blog that Iran has consistently rejected Russia's offer to peacefully enrich uranium at facilities open to international inspectors, which is why Lavrov responded to a reporter's question by saying that the proposal had never been formalized.
March 3, Moscow, Russia – Hamas representatives came to the Russian capital on a commercial flight, and in their first statement they said that they were not going to recognize Israel, and as long as the “occupiers” don’t leave their territory there can be no peace talks. If commentators in the West believe that Putin supports this kind of terrorist movement and terror-friendly governments, well, the West is wrong – Putin canceled his appointment with the Hamas leaders, and instead they will hold talks only with the Russian Foreign Minister, who has already stated several times that negotiating is the only way to solve the problem of Israel and Palestine. The Foreign Minister added that Hamas can’t hope for any kind of political and international future without getting serious about ending terrorism against Israel.
On the last day of the Hamas leaders' three days in Moscow, March 5, they will be regular tourists, admiring Russian architecture and the treasures of the Kremlin. The palace exhibitions are visited weekly by thousands of tourists - that's the closest Hamas leaders will get to Putin.
I’m always asked if Putin has relationships or mutual anti-American plans with Iran, Syria and the Palestinians, and I always answer, that if it appears as he does, this is only due only to the chaos in Russia. Russia fights the same war as the Americans and shares vital interests with the U.S.
In the meantime, a Chechen terrorist spokesman said that the “Mujahideen of Palestine are our brothers, and we regret their decision...they will shake hands with the killers of the true Muslims…” It appears that; Hamas has been humiliated and told to “get lost” by Putin, to “get serious” by Russia's Foreign Minister, and the visit outraged their jihadist "brothers" from Chechnya. All in all, not a bad week of work for Putin and the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Pakistani Army has released information about their commando operation that killed a Chechen terrorist commander on the Afghan-Pakistan border. General Sultan of the Pakistani Army said that they have intelligence about a significant Chechen presence on the border region, which is used as a hide-out by fugitive Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists. During this particular operation 40 jihadists of several different nationalities were killed. The Chechen terrorist’s name was Imam; he has been wanted in Russia for some time. He was killed along with his three bodyguards on March 2, 2006.
