Posted on 09/06/2004 1:04:58 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
Russian investigators said Arab operatives linked to Al Qaida played a major role in the takeover of a Russian school in which 400 people were killed.
Russian officials said authorities have determined that 10 of the 32 suicide attackers who took over a high school in Beslan in North Ossetia last week were nationals from several Arab countries. Most of the attackers were Chechens and Ingush who had been trained at Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan.
The 10 Arab nationals came from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, officials said. They said security forces seized notebooks in Arabic in the school taken over by insurgents. Officials said survivors told authorities that some of the captors spoke Arabic during the three-day hostage ordeal.
All of the captors were said to have been killed, but three accomplices were arrested, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Arab nationals were said to have been recruited in the Middle East and hosted by Shamil Basayev, head of the Chechen insurgency and aligned with Al Qaida.
"We're hoping to release additional information over the next few days," an official said. "But precise details will require cooperation from our allies."
The officials said the attackers were trained in Al Qaida camps in Afghanistan and financed by Abu Omar Al Seif, regarded as a leading Al Qaida operative and the organization's representative in Chechnya.
Al Seif, identified as the chief Islamic ideologue in the Chechen insurgency, was brought to Chechnya in 1995 by Saudi national Samir Saleh Abdullah Al Suwailem, known as Abu Khattab. Abu Khattab was said to have been killed in 2002.
Officials said Basayev received Saudi financial aid for at least a decade, most of it through Al Seif. They said Basayev and Al Seif employed hundreds of Saudi volunteers for suicide and other mass casualty attacks in Chechnya and other parts of Russia as well as raised funds required for the attack on the school in Beslan.
In December 2003, Federal Security Service spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko said virtually all of the suicide attacks in Russia over the last few years were organized by Al Seif and Abu Al Walid. Ignatchenko identified Al Walid as responsible for the Arab fighters in Chechnya.
"Major financial resources reach Al Walid and Abu Omar from extremist centers in a series of Arab countries," Ignatchenko was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.
Several Middle East countries planned to increase security cooperation with Russia, officials said. On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to meet Israeli leaders in an effort to pave the way for expanded security cooperation. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also agreed to increased security cooperation with Moscow. Victims of the insurgency attack included at least one Turkish national.
"The recent terrorist act in Russia has showed the importance of international cooperation in fight against terrorism," Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said.
I think I can agree with that, but you've failed to address Bush's miscalculation on Chechnya. Was he right to threaten economic sanctions against Russia if they didn't stop fighting in Chechnya? Was the State Dept right for meeting with Chechen opposition party members? Your answer please.
But...but...I read in my leftie lib local paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, today that the Russian leaders were backtracking in their claim that foreign terrorists were involved, that there was no proof. And the Russians were focusing on an independent internal investigation to determine why the government handled the crisis so badly. And the bomb explosion was a mistake, the separatists didn't mean to do it....
That fact is creeping into reporting and commentary, day by day.
I noted Guiliani dated the beginning of terrorism to 1972 Munich Olympics, which is useful to put a long timeline on this awful historic situation.
Muslim terrorism in Philippines, Maylasia, Indonesia, India, Russia, Sudan etc. has NO CONNECTION with Israel.
It is islamic expansionism--political, by the sword. Needs stopping, which can ONLY be done by the sword.
No UN negotiated "political" settlements.
Links please because I don't remember the threat of economic sanctions specifically. I do remember that Bush wants Putin to work on human rights in Chechyna -- but I doubt that Bush extends the same rights to terrorists in Chechyna. Big difference in my book.
If you are trying to link human rights to rights for terrorists, no need for this conversation to go further.
Working to promote democracy
JIM LEHRER: On Chechnya and Russia, the U.S. and the rest of the western world has been raising Cain with Russia from the beginning, saying 'You are killing innocent civilians.' The Russians have said essentially 'We're fighting terrorism, and, by the way, mind your own business.' What else -- what else, if anything, could be done by the United States?
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, we could cut off IMF (International Monetary Fund) aid and export/import loans to Russia until they heard the message loud and clear, and we should do that. It's going to be a very interesting issue to see how Russia merges, Jim. This guy, Putin, who is now the temporary president, has come to power as a result of Chechnya. He kind of rode the great wave of popularity as the Russian military looked like they were gaining strength in kind of handling the Chechnya situation in a way that's not acceptable to peaceful nations.
Date?
This appears to be pre 9/11.
BTTT
Yeah it was pre-911, but the point remains Bush and some of his cabinet members (Condy Rice) took office condemning Russian action in Chechnya. It had the early appearance of Clinton-Milosevic, and it took a 911 for the people of the United States to fully understand Islamist fundamentalism. Russia knew all about it when Bush made these statements. Now he knows.
Okay, I'm going to agree that you have some good points. I actually did not know about the sanctions comment by Bush so appreciate being told about it.
I do think Bush has a pre 9/11 thought process and a post 9/11 thought process so I doubt he'd probably make the same type of comment today. But that's only my opinion.
I also think the Russians might have a new thought process themselves after this school massacre. I don't think they will have the same feelings towards Islamist fundamentalism themselves now.
My guess is that Condi Rice gave Bush this advice because it didn't sound like the Bush I know. Sorry, but I'm not a Condi fan.
One thing (among many) that is different in Russia (you may already know this) is the vast ethnic diversity when compared with the U.S. If you visit middle or northern Russia, the population is as anglo as Iceland. But if you travel to the Caucusus regions, Russia begins to blend ethnically into a darker, more Arabic/Armenian portrait. The Republics of Georgia, Kazahkstan, Uzebekistan, Azerbijan and add Chechnya have a populace that "looks" Croatian/Serbian/Armenian(gypsy) and even Arabic. This region is where caucasian anglos (pardon my language) methodically blend into the Arab peoples of the world. The peoples you saw in Beslan resemble this blend to darker features and skin.
Though I'm not an anthropologist, I play one on TV. My point is that Islam itself, and Turkish-Tatar influences in southern Russia are more deeply woven into Russian society than you might think, thus their peoples might be more sluggish to see them as the enemy unlike the U.S.
sorry i typed this quickly. don't point out my flaws. there are many in there. you get the main picture hopefully.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.