Chief of External Subcommittee of Informational Council (part of State Defense Council of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria) Movladi Udugov said that the arson of a car belonging to the Russian embassy in Sweden was a provocation perpetrated by Moscow. Mr. Udugov called on the European states to place all Russian embassies under surveillance. The statement issued by the Chechen government official reads: "The nature and time of the arson of a car belonging to the Russian embassy in Sweden shows that it was a deliberate provocation perpetrated by Moscow. It is also a noticeable fact that the car was burned literally the next day after the Swedish news agency published the exclusive interview with Commander Shamil Basayev. This fact shows that the secret services of the Kremlin regime, -- which are nestled under the roof of the embassy of the Russian Federation and which got shielded by diplomatic passports, as it was the case in Qatar, -- are feeling at ease in the Western states and are ready to commit any provocations on the Western soil at any convenient moment. This situation is very dangerous. "We are calling on the governments of the European states to place all diplomatic representations of Russia in their countries under strict surveillance, because through these representations Russian terrorist groups are shipping weapons and explosives to Europe. Also, it is quite possible that they are bringing weapons of mass destruction and chemical and bacteriological weapons, which Moscow may use for its provocative purposes as well. Russian diplomatic representations have now become real centers of international terrorist activities. Actions of the Kremlin regime are dangerous and are far from being civilized. This is why the authorities of the European states, and not only European states actually, must be ready for any 'bloody" surprises' that Moscow will come up with."
Earlier Kavkaz Center received a report from its source in Moscow that Russians themselves could have been the ones who set the Russian diplomatic car on fire in Sweden and that it was done most likely for provocative purposes in response to that country's independent position on the "Chechen issue" and due to its recent publication of an interview with Chechen Commander Shamil Basayev by the local news agency.