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Israel warns Moscow of Iran's connection to bombings

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, September 16, 1999

JERUSALEM -- Israel has warned Moscow that this week's bombing in Moscow is connected to Islamic fundamentalists supported by Iran.

Israeli officials told their Russian counterparts in meetings on Tuesday that Russia should reconsider its support for Iran's missile and nuclear programs in the aftermath of Monday's explosion, which has killed nearly 130 people.

"It is clear that the same terrorism that we have always warned about, attacks not only Israel but all other nations of the world," Foreign Minister David Levy was quoted as telling Alexander Saltanov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry Middle East Department.

Levy, according to a Foreign Ministry statement, expressed his concern over Iranian policy and Islamic fundamentalist terrorism in the aftermath of the two bombings in Moscow over the last week.

"We must stand like a rampart against the threat of fundamentalist operations against Israel and all peoples of the region - the earlier the better," Levy said. "Terrorism knows no borders. It is a time bomb threatening us all."

On Wednesday, Moscow police said they arrested 27 suspects in the bombings. They said they identified the Chechen rebels responsible for the blasts. A man called news agencies and said the little-known group, Dagestan Liberation Army, carried out the bombings.

In Paris on Wednesday, a Paris court sentenced 21 Islamic fundamentalists to terms of up to 10 years in prison for a rash of bombings in 1995. The bombings killed 10 people and were believed to be masterminded by the opposition to the Algerian regime, supported by France.

Israel has urged Russia to stop the transfer of technology to Iran's medium- and long-range ballistic missile program. In a visit last month to Moscow, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he would give Russia another three months before he decides on measures. Officials said this could include a request to the United States to impose new sanctions on Russian companies.

Thursday, September 16, 1999


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