[Sinner]

Just some news of the Aftermath in Russia...


RUSSIA: Beslan Aftermath



September 24, 2004: Russian police have arrested over 10,000 people in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. About half of those rounded up are people living in Moscow illegally. In Russia, you have to be registered with the government, as living at a particular address, to be "legal." In the Soviet period, you needed government permission to move your residence, or even travel long distances. The Russian legislature is considering reintroducing some of these restrictions. The low pay scales for police and security personnel is also being examined, as the low pay is given as a major reason for the widespread accepting of bribes by the police. It was a bribed cop that got suicide bombers on Russian aircraft last month.

September 23, 2004: In Chechnya, military operations against rebel groups continue at a high level (in response to the Beslan murders). Six rebels were killed in Chechnya today, and their camp examined for weapons, equipment and documents.

September 22, 2004: Diplomatic pressure is being turned up on Britain and Qatar, to get these countries to give up Chechen rebel leaders they have granted political asylum to.

September 18, 2004: Police arrested a man driving a car full of explosives in Moscow. The man said he was paid a thousand dollars on a street that Russian president Putin often drove down. The arrested man died of a heart attack shortly after his arrest.

September 17, 2004: Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev admitted he was behind the Beslan school massacre. Basayev said that the operation had only cost him about $9,000 to finance. About 30 of Basayevs followers also died in the operation. Basayevs also admitted that the suicide bombing of two Russian airliners last month had only cost him $4,000, while the suicide bombing outside a Moscow subway station last month had cost him back $7,000 to carry out.

September 15, 2004: As a result of the Beslan murders, police and military operations in Chechnya have increased. This has produced the arrest of some Chechens involved in supporting terrorist operations, and rebel camps as well. Part of this is because of more energetic operations by angry Russians, but also more tips from Chechens appalled at the mass murder of Children in Beslan.

September 14, 2004: Russia and Israel have exchanged intelligence officers, and apparently information on terrorist operations as well.

United States aircraft have been moving 24 pounds of Cold War era weapons grade uranium from Uzbekistan, where Islamic radicals are a growing force, back to Russia. The uranium had been stored at a nuclear research facility. Hundreds of pounds of similar grade uranium are still stored in research facilities and industrial facilities in nations that were once part of the Soviet Union.