Russian Dilemma Over New Chechen Terrorist Activity

An article appearing this week in the web magazine News Informant, entitled How Will Russia React To New Chechen Terror?" questions how Russia will react to its most recent terror attack -- the seizure of a Russian school with over 1,000 hostages, primarily children. The recent series of attacks explode the myth that the Russian government, after years of reassuring their public that the unrest in Chechnya is virtually over, has been able to tame domestic terrorists. President Vladimir Putin recently called for a U.N. Security Council meeting on terrorist acts" and extra troops have been called out to guard dozens of the countrys nuclear facilities. The most recent hostage crisis has led to further questions as to the effectiveness of the countrys intelligence and security organizations. Since 9/11 and the war on terrorism, critics have charged that Putins attempt to link the Chechen separatist movement with terrorist activities has been an exploitive attempt to whip up public support for his approach with Chechnya.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) September 9, 2004 -- On September 1, a heavily armed gang of suspected Chechen separatists seized the school in Besian, in North Ossetia province, a non-Muslim region west of the embattled Chechnya. In the ensuing days, more than 200 people perished when Russian forces stormed the building, many of them children. The same day that the hostage situation began, a subway suicide bomber in Moscow also carried out a terrorist attack that killed 10 people. This crisis comes only 6 days after the mid-air explosions of two Russian civilian aircraft over southern Russia, an act that ended the lives of 90 passengers. These acts of terrorism come within days of the recent presidential election in Chechnya in which Moscows choice for Chechen leader, Alu Alkanov, won a landslide victory.

The recent spate of suicide bombings in Russia seems to enhance the argument that Arab radicals have increased their influence with Chechen separatists. This element of outside agitation has added a troubling aspect to the notion that a purely political solution holds the best hope for resolution.

According to News Informant editor Bernard Perlstein, "Russia has had problems with Chechen rebels since Moscow ordered troops to the region in 1994, to halt the countrys attempt at secession." Six months later, rebels seized a hospital in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk. Since 1999, when President Putin came into office, terrorist acts in Russia have occurred with more frequency, including the suspect bombing of three apartment buildings in 1999.

"The recent terrorist attacks come as a surprise to the public because the Putin government has not been discussing terrorism lately," Perlstein commented. "The government, which controls a good portion of the news media in Russia, has been embarrased in the past, not only by its inability to prevent such attacks, but also because of its bungled responses," he added. The disastrous resolution of the Dubrovka Theater siege in 2002 in Moscow, in which 129 civilians died during the raid to free 800 hostages, brought increasing worldwide attention to the Chechen separatist movement and the seemingly ineffectual Federal Security Service, the successor to the K.G.B., which Putin once headed.

The News Informant original article in its entirety, and its sources, can be found on the web at: http://www.newsinformant.com/2004_09_06/politics.php#000777. A free registration is required to view the article.

To request a free copy of the article, or to obtain reprint rights or other use of the article, please contact Media@newsinformant.com.

About News Informant Inc.
News Informant Inc. publishes News Informant, a weekly U.S.-based web news magazine focusing on news analysis of important domestic and global issues that are not sufficiently covered by the U.S. media. The magazine uses primarily respected worldwide online source material to render original information and perspectives. The periodical follows the slogan, Its Not Just the News -- Its Whats Behind the News."

Note that News Informant is a registered trademark of News Informant Inc.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Tonya D. Hottmann
News Informant Inc.
312-644-9868
http://www.newsinformant.com

# # #