Terrorists blamed for Russian plane crashes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-30 06:44

Evidence of the explosive hexogen was found on a Tu-134 jetliner that crashed in the Tula region south of Moscow, said Sergei Ignatchenko, spokesman for the Federal Security Service.

The statement came a day after the announcement of similar findings on the wreckage of a Tu-154 that crashed in southern Russia and that officials said showed that the plane was brought down by a terrorist act.

The findings of explosives pointed to significant weaknesses in security for the air transport network that spans the sprawling country.

Officials had warned that Chechen separatist rebels could resort to terrorism to try to undermine the voting. The Kremlin refuses to negotiate with the rebels.

'Black widows'

A website connected to Islamic militants claimed the crashes were retaliation for Russia's ongoing war in Chechnya, and Russian officials said they were investigating the backgrounds of two female passengers with Chechen surnames one on each of the planes.

Several suicide bombings in recent years have been blamed on Chechen women who lost husbands or brothers in the war and chaos that have plagued the southern republic for most of the past decade.

On Saturday, the newspaper Izvestia cited a Chechen village leader, Dogman Akhmadov, as saying that the brother of one of the suspected women disappeared three or four years ago and was believed to have fallen victim to Russian forces protecting Chechnya.

Both women had booked tickets on the flights at the last minute and were the only victims whose relatives have not contacted authorities, officials said. One of the women gave only her surname and first initial in booking the ticket, according to reports.

The Transport Ministry said on Saturday that passengers on domestic flights now will be obliged to show full passport details on their tickets, ITAR-TASS reported, citing an unidentified ministry official who said the measure will "make the process of documenting passengers and baggage more transparent and controlled."

Russian citizens have separate passports for internal and foreign travel.

The first official confirmation that terrorists infiltrated Russia's civil aviation system a vital industry in this vast nation otherwise prompted only a muted official response, with Russian authorities avoiding drastic measures such as closing airspace or grounding flights.

President Vladimir Putin made no public comment on the discovery of traces of explosives three days after what one major newspaper called Russia's 9/11.

Hexogen was identified as the explosive in a series of 1999 apartment-building bombings that killed some 300 people in Moscow and other cities that were blamed on Chechen separatists. The bombings led in part to Putin's decision to send troops back into the region. Despite his high popularity ratings, Putin's presidency has been marred by persistent fighting in Chechnya and deadly bombings beyond its borders.

Website claim

A website statement that appeared last Friday was signed the "Islambouli Brigades" and claimed responsibility for the crashes, warning that they marked just the first in a series of planned operations. The claim's veracity could not be confirmed.

"Russia's slaughtering of Muslims is continuing and will only stop when a bloody war is launched," the statement said. It said five "mujahedeen" holy fighters were aboard each plane.

Russian officials have repeatedly contended that the rebels who have been fighting Russian forces in Chechnya for nearly five years receive help from foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida.

Friday's claim did not refer to al-Qaida, but a group called "the Islambouli Brigades of al-Qaida" claimed responsibility for last month's attempt to assassinate Pakistan's prime minister-designate.

Paul Duffy, a Moscow-based aviation expert, said he found it "hard to believe" that five attackers were aboard each plane, but said "there is no doubt that they had one at least on each aircraft."

Representatives of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov have denied connection to the crashes. But Maskhadov, who led Chechnya during its 1996-99 period of de-facto independence, is believed to control only a small portion of Chechnya's fighters.

Also yesterday, China strongly condemned terrorist attacks resulting in the crash of two Russian passenger planes, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan here yesterday.

Kong said China opposes terrorism in all its manifestations and firmly supports Russian Government's crackdown on it. China is willing to co-operate with the international community, including Russia, to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism for the sake of global peace and stability.

Security concern

The presence of explosives on both airliners underscored with horrifying impact weak links in civil aviation security that authorities vowed to strengthen fast.

But it also highlighted limits in their ability to do so limits also faced by other countries around the world without making airline travel prohibitively expensive, time-consuming and uncomfortable for the average traveller.

"We are reinforcing inspection procedures, particularly with respect to the checking of luggage and of passengers," Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Saturday, announcing plans to bolster security at Russian airports.

Staff at Domodedovo international airport south of Moscow from which both of the planes departed said steps were taken within hours of the crashes to enhance security at the facility.

"There are more of us on duty today, security is being strengthened," said one luggage inspector employed by a private firm, East Line Guard, who asked not to be named.

Russia got a reputation after the breakup of the Soviet Union as a relatively risky place to fly domestically, but experts asserted that aviation security here today is, in general terms, on a par with western standards.

The fact however that someone was apparently able to bring a high-powered explosive aboard both planes demonstrated that security measures to prevent such action were insufficient.

"It means there were serious security lapses at Domodedovo airport," said Pavel Felgenhauer, a noted Russian security and defence specialist.

"Explosive material was taken on board the plane."

Once that fact was officially confirmed, authorities openly acknowledged that they now faced a serious challenge in looking for ways technical, budgetary and human to prevent it from happening again.

Sergei Ignachenko, spokesman for Russia's FSB intelligence service, said transport officials were studying introduction of technologies and methods used by Israel to ensure safety, which he described as "the most effective in the world."

"In line with a decree from the Russian president, the FSB is studying international experience in the fight against terrorism targeting aviation transport," Ignachenko said.

Among measures that might be considered is installation not just of metal detectors but of far more sophisticated and costly scanners that use visual as well as chemical sensors to detect hazardous materials of all kinds.

But such devices cost around US$150,000 a piece and their use on a limited, random basis is still only in a test phase at a handful of airports even in the United States, where billions of dollars were earmarked to improve airport security in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Domodedovo airport has been thoroughly renovated over the past four years and is now regarded as Moscow's most up to date in terms both of airline security and public facilities, a fact that has attracted several major international carriers.

But like many other transport facilities here and abroad, it lacks the private investment capital that would be needed to upgrade security to a level that would ensure no illicit material found its way into an airliner.

Chechen election

A man tried to bring a suspicious package to a polling station in Chechnya yesterday, then died in an explosion as he ran away, the head of the Chechen election commission said on Russian television.

The blast came as Chechens voted for a president to replace the Kremlin-backed leader who was killed in a bomb blast in May.

Details on yesterday's incident in the Chechen capital Grozny were sketchy.

When guards at the polling station asked to see the package.

"He began to run. It blew up. He died," elections commission head Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov said in comments shown on the NTV television channel.

No other casualties were reported and the polling station continued to operate, according to NTV.

Acting Chechen President Sergei Abramov said that by midday, more than 30 per cent of the electorate had turned out, the level needed to consider the election valid.

The election is part of the Kremlin's strategy to try to undermine support for separatist rebels who have been fighting Russian forces for nearly five years by inducing a sense of civil order in the ruined southern republic.

An election last October based on that strategy brought Akhmad Kadyrov to power, but Kadyrov was killed in a bomb blast in Grozny in May and fighting and violent crime have continued unabated.

"People are sick of the fighting," said Tashtyela Yarnasa, a 65-year-old pensioner who came to vote at a heavily guarded school in the eastern Chechen town of Oiskhara. "I'm hoping there won't be any more war."

Recent weeks indicate that Chechen separatists remain determined in their fight. Earlier this month, some 30 people were reported killed in a night of attacks on police stations and patrols in Grozny, the capital.

The region's top police official, Major-General Alu Alkhanov, is the unquestioned favourite among the seven candidates for president and the Kremlin has made clear its support for him. When Putin made a surprise visit to Kadyrov's grave last week, state television showed Alkhanov beside him.

The lack of any real opposition to Alkhanov has led human rights group and many Chechens to assume the election result is a foregone conclusion, as was last year's election of Kadyrov.

The ITAR-Tass news agency cited election officials as saying more than 10 per cent of the eligible voters turned out in the first two hours of voting. However, at the polling station in Oiskhara, officials said only about 25 people had shown up to cast ballots in the first two hours.