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| Arabia |
| Chechen rebels phoned Gulf during siege |
| 2002-12-05 |
| Russian security officials suspect that the Chechens who seized a Moscow theatre in October had wealthy Arab sponsors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and have sought Washington's support in finding the financiers. Senior officials say they have traced a series of telephone calls from the gunmen to their "sponsors" in the Gulf. We heard they listened to the calls, I was wondering when we would hear about where they came from. During one call made to an unspecified Gulf state a financier asked for a video of scenes inside the theatre, and was told it could be made for a $1m fee. Wanted a snuff flick, did he? "Several long telephone conversations were intercepted to Saudi Arabia, to the Emirates, and to Qatar. Sure like to hear these tapes, wouldn't you? "We can say for sure that the hostage-taking was financed from abroad, and the terrorists maintained permanent contact with their sponsors." He added that the leader of the hostage-takers, Mosvar Barayev, and several of his fellow Chechens had planned to flee to the Gulf once the crisis was over. The source declined to name the sponsors and the country from which the video was requested, because the general prosecutor's office is still investigating the event. Making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who's naughty and nice. The revelation helps to explain the pointed comments President Vladimir Putin made after his recent meeting with George Bush in St Petersburg. He pointed out that 16 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were Saudi citizens, saying: "We will remember this," and adding:"We should not forget those who provide financing to terrorists." "Vengence is a dish best served cold. It's very cold in Moscow." Russian security officials have been issuing warnings about the threat posed by Islamist extremists funded by wealthy Gulf state benefactors since the mid-90s. The security source said: "According to [security service] estimates, each month from the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, from £1.3m to £2.5m comes to support terrorism on the territory of the Russian Federation." The Russian security services were constantly exchanging information on the funding organisations with their American and British counterparts, he said. Russian security officials say there are long-standing links between organisations in Saudi Arabia and "terrorist activity" in Russia. The official added: "In Saudi Arabia there is a group of NGOs linked to al-Qaida that form an integral system feeding terrorism. "We count about 20 such organisations there who have accounts and branches in other countries." He added that the NGOs' purported purpose, international support for Muslims, was a front for funding terrorism. Seems like it's going to be headache time in Saudiland. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Putin as the prototype for the Klingons? Worth pursuing. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2002-12-06 10:56:31 |
| #2 Remember? Putin has been remembering since his days at KGB and the Soddy's (when Binny was their boy)financing the Pushtan-Afghanistan/Soviet war. I see the old KBG style dealing with this coming out pretty soon. |
| Posted by: Jack 2002-12-06 03:36:38 |
| #1 Wow and this whole time I thought the Jews were behind this one also. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-06 03:28:15 |