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Moscow angered by U.S. paper's linking Russian mafia to Bin Laden
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Tuesday, October 2, 2001
The Russian Foreign Ministry on 27 September issued a
statement criticizing a report in "The "Washington Times"
that said there have been links between Russian organized
crime and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, and that these
links were exploited in an apparently failed attempt by bin
Laden to purchase Russian weapons of mass destruction, RIA-
Novosti reported. The ministry said that such reports are
clearly intended to undermine Russia's cooperation with the
international antiterrorism coalition by casting aspersions
on Russia. But at the same time, the ministry said that "if
these reports have any basis in fact, then this information
should be sent to Russian security services via special
channels."
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