Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday condemned the Chechnya suicide blast
in which at least 46 died, saying it showed the need to end all kinds of terrorism.
"These sorts of atrocities can never be justified," he said in a statement, emphasising
"the need to bring terrorism of all kinds to an end."
Blair, currently holidaying with his family in Egypt, said his thoughts were with
the victims and their families.
According to reports, suicide bombers rammed two dynamite-packed vehicles into
the headquarters of the pro-Russian Chechen government in Grozny, capital of the
breakaway southern Russian republic.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed his condolences in a telephone
conversation with Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov.
Speaking in London, Akhmed Zakayev, a leading Chechen separatist sought by Russian
authorities, described the attack as a "success."
But he denied that Aslan Maskhadov, the separatist leader of Chechnya, was implicated
in the bombing.
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US condemns suicide bombing in Chechenya
Xinhuanet 2002-12-28 05:55:27
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) --
The United States on Friday condemned the suicide bombing that killed more than
40 people in Chechen capital Grozny.
"We strongly condemn this apparent act of terrorism and extend our sincere condolences
to the families of the victims," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
"The attack underscores the fact that there can be no military solution to the
conflict in Chechnya," he said. "A political solution is critical to the
efforts to bring a lasting peace to the region."
The United States called on Chechen leaders to firmly and unequivocally renounce
terrorist acts in word and deed, cut their ties to terrorist groups and with those
Chechens affiliated with terrorist groups, Reeker added.
Two powerful explosions ripped through the Chechen government building at about
2:30 p.m. Moscow time (1130 GMT), killing 46 people and leaving
76 others injured, Russian Interfax news agencyreported. The building was completely
blown apart in the attack.
According to the report, two suicide bombers rammed two vehicles packed with a
ton of explosives into the four-storey building, which was built after Russian
troops seized Grozny in 2000.
Chechen rebels have been fighting to free Chechnya, a southern province in the
Caucasus region, from Moscow's rule.
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Comment by Norbert Strade, Yahoo Chechnya mailing list moderator.
And neither Mr. Blair nor any US administration official has ever *condemned*
the genocide of the Chechen nation. All they can make themselves say is that they
prefer a peaceful solution... 250,000 Chechen civilians simply don't count in
their maneouvering with the Kremlin. Mr. Reeker is especially "funny". What if
the US administration gave the Chechen leaders a good example and cut its ties
to the mass-killers and war criminals in the Kremlin, who are responsible for
atrocities on
a scale which nothing committed on the Chechen side is even remotely comparable
with? N.S.