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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