ShackO
06-29-2006, 10:22 PM
Moscow (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/28/world/europe/28cnd-russia.html?hp&ex=1151553600&en=d7aba5bcdec8e6a9&ei=5094&partner=homepage) June 28 — President Vladimir V. Putin ordered Russia's secret services today to find and kill those who kidnapped four Russian embassy employees in Iraq and then executed them, the Kremlin announced in a statement.
The bluntness of the statement reflected the deep shock and anger — much of it directed at the United States — that has unfolded in Russia after the kidnapping in a June 3 attack that killed a fifth Russian. The Foreign Ministry confirmed the execution of the hostages on Monday following the release of a short video that showed the beheading of two of the men and the body of a third.
"The president gave instructions to the Russian special services to take all measures for finding and destroying the criminals who committed this atrocity," the Kremlin said, according to the official Russian Information Agency.
Neither the news agencies nor state television immediately quoted Mr. Putin directly making the remark. Interfax only directly quoted remarks he made appealing for assistance in finding those involved during a meeting with Prince Salman bin Adbul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.
The Russian president has made similarly pointed threats before — against Chechnya's separatist fighters and those who have carried out terrorist attacks in Russia. Early in the second war in Chechnya Mr. Putin vowed to destroy the separatists in their outhouses. And four Chechen separatist leaders have been killed in strikes or raids since the second war began in 1999, most recently on June 17 when Russian forces killed the latest leader, Abdul Khalim Saidullayev.
How exactly Russian agents might follow through on Mr. Putin's order in Iraq remains unclear, given how little is known about the group that carried out the kidnapping and subsequent executions. The Mujahedeen Shura, or Council of Holy Warriors, is a group that says it represents Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other insurgent factions in Iraq.
The only known instance of Russian special forces carrying out an attack abroad came in Feb. 2003 when a bomb destroyed a car being driven in Qatar by Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, another of the Chechen leaders. Although Russia denied involvement, a court in Qatar convicted two Russian secret agents later that year and said there was evidence that Mr. Yandarbiyev's assassination had been ordered by "the Russian leadership."
The director of the Federal Security Service, Nikolai P. Patrushev, later said that no effort would be spared in carrying out Mr. Putin's order "no matter how much time and effort will be needed."
"We should be working so that not a single terrorist responsible for the crime would escape responsibility," Mr. Patrushev said in remarks, cited by Russian news agencies, that stopped short of a direct threat to kill those responsible.
The United States, along with many other countries, have denounced the killings of the embassy workers — including a third secretary, a maintenance worker, driver, guard and a cook — as an act of terror.
American military commanders in Iraq pledged to help find the hostages and, after their deaths, to assist in finding those who killed them. But far from finding common cause over the killings, many Russian officials, clerics, politicians and commentators have blamed the deaths on the United States and the failure of the American-led forces to provide security.
The lower house of Parliament voted today to adopt a statement that referred only to the "occupying countries" in Iraq, but blamed them for the deaths. "We believe they could have prevented the tragedy," the statement said.
The bluntness of the statement reflected the deep shock and anger — much of it directed at the United States — that has unfolded in Russia after the kidnapping in a June 3 attack that killed a fifth Russian. The Foreign Ministry confirmed the execution of the hostages on Monday following the release of a short video that showed the beheading of two of the men and the body of a third.
"The president gave instructions to the Russian special services to take all measures for finding and destroying the criminals who committed this atrocity," the Kremlin said, according to the official Russian Information Agency.
Neither the news agencies nor state television immediately quoted Mr. Putin directly making the remark. Interfax only directly quoted remarks he made appealing for assistance in finding those involved during a meeting with Prince Salman bin Adbul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.
The Russian president has made similarly pointed threats before — against Chechnya's separatist fighters and those who have carried out terrorist attacks in Russia. Early in the second war in Chechnya Mr. Putin vowed to destroy the separatists in their outhouses. And four Chechen separatist leaders have been killed in strikes or raids since the second war began in 1999, most recently on June 17 when Russian forces killed the latest leader, Abdul Khalim Saidullayev.
How exactly Russian agents might follow through on Mr. Putin's order in Iraq remains unclear, given how little is known about the group that carried out the kidnapping and subsequent executions. The Mujahedeen Shura, or Council of Holy Warriors, is a group that says it represents Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and other insurgent factions in Iraq.
The only known instance of Russian special forces carrying out an attack abroad came in Feb. 2003 when a bomb destroyed a car being driven in Qatar by Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, another of the Chechen leaders. Although Russia denied involvement, a court in Qatar convicted two Russian secret agents later that year and said there was evidence that Mr. Yandarbiyev's assassination had been ordered by "the Russian leadership."
The director of the Federal Security Service, Nikolai P. Patrushev, later said that no effort would be spared in carrying out Mr. Putin's order "no matter how much time and effort will be needed."
"We should be working so that not a single terrorist responsible for the crime would escape responsibility," Mr. Patrushev said in remarks, cited by Russian news agencies, that stopped short of a direct threat to kill those responsible.
The United States, along with many other countries, have denounced the killings of the embassy workers — including a third secretary, a maintenance worker, driver, guard and a cook — as an act of terror.
American military commanders in Iraq pledged to help find the hostages and, after their deaths, to assist in finding those who killed them. But far from finding common cause over the killings, many Russian officials, clerics, politicians and commentators have blamed the deaths on the United States and the failure of the American-led forces to provide security.
The lower house of Parliament voted today to adopt a statement that referred only to the "occupying countries" in Iraq, but blamed them for the deaths. "We believe they could have prevented the tragedy," the statement said.