Russia 100527 Basic Political Developments

Reuters: Death toll from south Russia bomb rises to seven

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64P48I20100527
MOSCOW

Thu May 27, 2010 1:51am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The death toll from a bomb blast in the southern Russian city of Stavropol rose to seven on Thursday and 16 people were in a critical condition, Russian media reported.

The blast occurred on Wednesday just before the start of a concert by a dance company linked with Kremlin-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Russia said investigators had opened a criminal case under terrorism laws after the blast in the ethnically Russian Stavropol region, which borders the violence-racked, mainly Muslim republics of the North Caucasus.

Islamist militants have vowed to expand a campaign of shootings and bombings to Russian cities. Suicide bombers on the Moscow metro in March killed 40 people in the worst attack on the Russian heartland since 2004.

A Stavropol doctor told Rossiya-24 television that the death toll had risen by two overnight to seven and that 16 people were in an "extremely grave condition" with chest, abdominal and head wounds.

The bomb, equivalent to 400 grams of TNT, was disguised as a pack of juice.

Last year, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered that the Stavropol region be included in a new North Caucasus Federal District along with mainly Muslim Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia in a bid to tackle growing violence.

(Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

RIA: Death toll from south Russia terrorist attack reaches 7

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100527/159176859.html
09:1427/05/2010

The death toll from a terrorist attack in the south Russian city of Stavropol has risen to 7, an emergencies service official said on Thursday.

An explosive device went off outside the city's House of Culture and Sport early on Wednesday evening before a Chechen band's concert.

The explosion also injured more than 40 people, with 30 of them remaining in hospital.

Police say that the explosion was equivalent to 0.4 kg of TNT.

An improvised explosive device, a gun and ammunition were found during searches of the homes of two people suspected of involvement in the blast, a police source said.

The Stavropol Territory is the largest region in the North Caucasus Federal District, and hosts its administration, but has remained largely free of the violence in the neighboring republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Stavropol Territory Governor Valery Gayevsky said the terrorist attack was aimed at shattering national unity.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

STAVROPOL, May 27 (RIA Novosti)

RIA: Police find bomb, gun at homes of south Russia blast suspects

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100527/159176630.html
08:4027/05/2010

Police found an improvised explosive device, a gun and ammunition during searches of the homes of two people suspected of involvement in Wednesday's deadly blast in south Russia's Stavropol, a police source said on Thursday.

Six people were killed and more than 40 were injured in the blast, which occurred outside the city's House of Culture and Sport early on Wednesday evening ahead of a performance by a Chechen group. Police say the explosives used were the equivalent of 400 grams of TNT.

The police source told RIA Novosti that "an unregistered Makarov gun" as well "ten rounds of a variety of calibers and an improvised explosive device" had been found during Wednesday's raids on the homes of the two men.

The Stavropol Territory is the largest region in the North Caucasus Federal District, and hosts its administration, but has remained largely free of the violence in the neighboring republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Stavropol Territory Governor Valery Gayevsky said the terrorist attack was aimed at shattering national unity.

STAVROPOL, May 27 (RIA Novosti)

Apa.az: Azerbaijanis are supposed to be injured in Stavropol explosion

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=123155

[ 27 May 2010 12:51 ]

Russian Emergency Ministry says Aykhan Bakhtiyarov and Ismayil Ibrahimov are among the injured persons

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. Azerbaijani citizens are supposed to be injured in an explosion n Aquarium Café in Stavropol, Russia, Health Minister of Stavropol Oblast Victor Mojarov said at a press conference, APA reports quoting the Russian agencies. 30 people were hospitalized and three of them were seriously wounded. Mojarov said there was a foreigner among the injured persons, who was not identified yet because of serious injuries. Russian Emergency Ministry’s website said 18-year old Aykhan Bakhtiyarov and 16-year old Ismayil Ibrahimov were also injured in the explosion. The ministry’s official in Stavropol told APA that they didn’t identify their citizenship yet.

A hand-made grenade was exploded in the café which is located near the concert room where a Chechen national dance group was going to perform. The explosion occurred 15 minutes before the concert. 7 people were killed and 30 injured in the explosion.

27 May 2010, 12:20

Khloponin: North Caucasus organized crime disguises property redistribution with religious extremism

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7307
Moscow, May 27, Interfax - Vice-Premier and plenipotentiary envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin traces economic rationale behind the actions of some Islamist groups.

"The problem is that criminals and organized crime engaged in property redistribution are trying to operate under the guise of terrorism and religious extremism within the district," Alexander Khloponin said in an interview published Thursday by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

According to him, criminal groups in some republics are "running a racket, and impose taxes upon entrepreneurs" and at the same time, they are trying to "disguise their operations with the name of Allah and Islam."

"But they have nothing to do with real terrorism," Khloponin said and added that he did not think it reasonable to refer to "any large-scale terrorism in the region."

He noted that "those bandits who are running around in the forest may be repelled without any need to impose the counter-terrorism operations."

"We shall smash terrorists, and the existing forces are quite enough for us to finish with them," Khloponin said.

Georgian Daily: Kadyrov Reaches Out to 600,000 Chechens Outside His Republic

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18739&Itemid=132
May 27, 2010

Paul Goble

Vienna, May 24 – In his latest bid to boost his power in Grozny and his influence in Moscow, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov is seeking closer ties with the 600,000 ethnic Chechens outside the republic, about half of whom have fled the violence there during the last 20 years and about half consist of communities that have existed for more than a century.

On the one hand, Kadyrov’s efforts are likely to be welcomed in Moscow as a way of reducing the anti-Moscow rhetoric of many in the Chechen diaspora. But on the other, his moves in that direction may inspire other non-Russian groups in Russia to develop similar programs, a trend that could force the powers that be to change the compatriots program.

Indeed, there is some evidence that this may already be happening. Even as Kadyrov made his announcement, government officials and ethnic activists in Mari El have announced plans to reach out to Finno-Ugric groups abroad, something Moscow may be significantly less happy about (gov.mari.ru/main/news/rep/gov/2010/2105_1.phtml).

At a meeting at the end of last week with Chechen Foreign Minister Shamsail Saraliyev and Presidential press secretary Alvi Karimov, Kadyrov said that “it is necessary to establish close ties with the Chechen diaspora,” a group evenly divided between those in other regions of Russia and those further afield (chechnya.gov.ru/page.php?r=126&id=7476).

Of the 600,000 Chechens living outside the republic, 300,000 live in Russian regions, the Chechen president said, with the remainder living in Europe, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. As far as the total number of Chechens in Chechnya, Kadyrov continued, that remains to be established by a census he plans there.

“During my recent visit to Turkey and Syria,” the Chechen leader said, “I met with people who came from the Chechen Republic. This people sincerely worry about their Motherland, have been pleased by the changes which have taken place there, and are proud of their origin, even though many of them do not speak their native language.”

“I consider it necessary to organize for them cultural measures,” Kadyrov continued, including exhibits, concerts, and visits. These events, he said, “must be directed at the popularization of the Chechen language and culture. “In Syria, Chechens said that since we launched the Grozny satellite television channel, their children had begun to learn the language.”

According to Kadyrov, “in certain countries, there exist entirely population points in which a large share of the population consists of Chechens.” While in Turkey, he continued, he said he “found out by accident that in one of the population points live more than 7,000 Chechens and the head of their village is also a Chechen. In such places, we must send our representatives so that people will understand that their link with the Motherland is unbroken.”

According to the Chechen Presidential news portal, Karimov said that work in this direction is “already being carried out.” Indeed, he said, “for that part of the diaspora which does not know its native language, [Grozny] intends to prepare books in two language, Arabic and Turkic, in which will be included translations of the works of Chechen writers and poets.”

A significant fraction of the Chechen communities formed more than a century ago are in the Middle East, and it is often from them that Chechens returned to fight against the Russians in the 1990s, leading to the suggestion that there were a large number of Arabs in the Chechen resistance.

In fact, there were Arabs, but they were never as numerous as Moscow claimed; and at least some of the Arabic speakers were ethnic Chechens whose ancestors had left the Russian Empire for the Ottoman Empire and then moved from Anatolia to countries in the Arab world (belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/12785/chechens_in_the_middle_east.html).

Chechens who have fled since 1991 are more often to be found in Europe or the United States, and it is unclear whether Kadyrov’s program will extend to them, all the more so since they typically have been far more antagonistic to his regime than have Chechens living in the Middle East.