(Jerusalem Post) Uri Dan - The Kremlin is convinced that a foreign agency, not Chechnya, provided substantial aid to the gang responsible for the hostage drama and tragedy in the Moscow theater. The head of a Russian defense research institution said in early October that Chechen terrorists were maintaining phone contact with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the territories. At the beginning of 1999, Vladimir Putin, then head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, told visiting Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Dagan, today head of the Israeli Mossad, of his concern about the danger of Islamist terrorist organizations helping the Chechens to organize operations against Russia. Putin proposed close cooperation with Israel against the Muslim fundamentalist terrorist threat that endangered both countries.
2002-10-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive