Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev has provided evidence substantiating
his claim that the government compound in Grozny was destroyed on December
27 last year on his orders. On Tuesday separatist website Kavkaz-Tsentr
posted a series of pictures featuring the building before, during and after
the attack, provided by the warlord in an e-mail.
In a statement accompanying the pictures Basayev said an ordinary Chechen
family carried out the attack – a father, and his teenage daughter
and son. Basayev's statement contradicts the official theory still being
investigated by the republic's Interior Ministry.
In a statement, released by Shamil Basayev, and posted, along with the pictures
of the explosion on the Kavkaz-Tsentr site on Tuesday, the Chechen warlord
claimed responsibility for the explosion of the headquarters of the pro-Moscow
Chechen government, which he calls ''the occupation administration''. Basyaev
said the operation had been masterminded by the reconnaissance and sabotage
brigade Riyad-us-Saliheyn, operating under his command.
Judging by an earlier admission from Movsar Barayev, the same group carried out
the attack on a Moscow theatre in October last year. Barayev, who led that
attack, referred to the organization as a battalion of ''shahids'' (martyrs).
The three people, who, according to Basayev, blew up the most guarded building
in Chechnya, were also shahids. Driving a Kamaz truck and a UAZ jeep laden
with explosives, they rammed through four rings of cordons at full speed.
The vehicles blew up within several metres of the building. As a result
of the blast the House of Government literally split in two. The section
that housed the financial agencies was destroyed completely.
48 government employees died immediately in the blast, and dozens died later in
hospitals of their injuries. The total death toll in the tragedy reached
83. Some 200 employees of the republican government and civil administration,
police officers, the military and ordinary civilians who were unfortunate
to be close to the epicentre of the blast suffered injuries of varying degrees.
In his statement posted on Kavkaz-Tsentr, Basayev claims that the House of Government
was brought down by an ordinary Chechen family: a 43-year-old father and
his two teenage children. The man was behind the wheel of the Kamaz truck
with his 15-year-old daughter sitting at is side. The 17-year-old boy was driving
the UAZ vehicle.
The three chose to become martyrs to avenge the mother and the eldest son
of their family, allegedly killed in bombings. That assertion runs counter
to the main theory of the official investigation. Several days after the
blast the head of the pro-Moscow republican Interior Ministry Ruslan Tsakayev
said that at least two of the suicide-bombers had been Slavs and spoke fluent
Russian. At the same time, however, it is possible that Tsakayev had sought
to exonerate the guards who failed to stop the terrorists at the checkpoints and
to prevent the attack.
Their guilt was established immediately after the attack. The deputy prosecutor
general Sergei Fridinsky said then that the rules governing the guarding
and defending of the government compound in Grozny had been gravely violated,
making the attack possible. In his statement Basayev reported how exactly that
happened. According to him, the guards did not even try to stop the vehicles;
on the contrary they dispersed in various directions, clearing the way for
the bombers.
As regards to the power of the blast, according to the rebels, it was much higher
than the official investigation established. Basayev claims that the vehicles
carried much more explosives than the Russian authorities claimed –
4 tons of TNT in the Kamaz truck, and 600 kilos in the UAZ. Another interesting
point in Basayev's statement is that the attack was not just a spontaneous
act of revenge on the part of a desperate Chechen family, but a thoroughly
planned operation. Initially it was scheduled for December 23-25 but was
postponed ''for technical reasons'' until December 27.
Basayev first claimed responsibility for the attack on the government compound
on February 10. Then, Kavkaz-Tsentr reported information citing a Shari'ah
news agency.
On Tuesday, however, Basayev did not only reiterate his claim but also provided
photographic evidence. Those pictures were, undoubtedly, taken by a person
who had been informed of the attack in advance and shot the building through
a long distance lens before, during and after the blast. All the pictures are
of a high quality.
Russian law enforcers, commenting on Basayev's statement on Wednesday, were skeptical
of his claim. By claiming responsibility for the December bombing the notorious
terrorist Shamil Basayev simply wanted to draw attention to himself, Deputy
Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax. ''The terrorist's words
can be assessed as routine bravado and a desire to remind people about himself,''
Fridinsky noted.
Some of Basayev's assertions are not true, he said. For instance, the investigators
have determined that people with Slavic complexions were driving the trucks
filled with explosives. ''However, Basayev's version will be checked during
the investigation. It is too early to speak about his involvement in the
crime,'' he said.