The Prime Minister and the chief investigators told the public and the State Duma that the case had been solved. The PM went as far to declare that there was no Chechnya connection. No arrests or conclusion were presented to the public however.
Today the report by Itar-Tass, the State news service released more details as published in the Moscow Times. It seems to be a sorted mess. Now we find that an arrest took place on 3 February, a week ago, after a car accident.
Was it a legal arrest? Who knows, because it took until the last couple of days for court to sanction the arrest. What was the hold-up? What happened that it took 6 days for the court to approve a warrant for an arrest that had already transpired?
It seems that the man arrested had grievances with Russian police was the man who carried out the Domodedovo bombing apparently was the brother in law of a man who was killed by Russian military police last August. That brother in law, Bekkhan Bogatyryov, was alleged to have been a radical Muslim rebel leader in the Ingush region and apparently killed when Russian Interior Ministry forces ambushed a rebel safe house in Ingushetia.
Then of course Doku Umarov, an Ingush terrorist leader who is sought after by the Russian military, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Russian investigators scoffed at the suggestion as recently as yesterday.
Today nobody is scoffing and Bashir Khamkhoyev, the man arrested on 3 February, is now identified as being a possible liaison for the Ingush rebel leadership. The man who carried the Domodedovo bomb was Magomed, the brother of Fatima Yevloyeva who is the wife of the man arrested last week. Investigators believe that family members helped him to prepare the bomb and escorted him to a Moscow-bound bus some time ahead of the blast.
Did someone mention that the FSB had blown up the family’s house back in house back in August? Supposedly that was done because there were bombs inside. That is a convenient way to get rid of bombs—no messy evidence collection and calling in a bomb squad to disable the devices and run tests to trace the origins of the materials. Just blow it all up and go home.
So where do the Swedes come in? Now. Wait, the Swedish? According to at least one news organization, cars from the Swedish Embassy in Moscow were used to deliver the bomb to Domodedovo. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta however quoted Moscow Police spokesman Sergei Gulyayev as denying reports about the Danish Embassy’s cars being wanted in connection with the attack
Apparently Russia will ask the United States to add rebel leader Umarov, the self-claimed mastermind of the blast, to the international list of terrorists.
So, where is the investigation? Has the case been “solved” again? Will there be more arrests and announcements of court dates? In view of so many deaths and suffering by so many, here’s hoping that this doesn’t turn into a circus.
(
Mendeleyev Journal)
