Nord Ost: How It Went Down

Three men in US camouflage were in command of the terrorists

The senior investigator for special affairs in the Prosecutor’s Office of Moscow, Viktor Kolchuk, informed on the live TV program “Special Report” on December 8 that the majority of the terrorists who seized the theater arrived in Moscow via Dagestan. The terrorists traveled in chartered buses from Makhachkala and Khasavyurt under the guise of small merchants, without arms and explosives. The people had wonderfully forged passports, and they themselves had never been involved into anything criminal before.

Terrorist leader Movsar Barayev came to Moscow from the city of Mineralnye Vody. According to NEWSRU.com, the terrorists and female kamikazes were settled in an apartment rented beforehand especially for this purpose. All of them were prohibited from leaving the apartment.

It took terrorists half a year to deliver the needed weapons and explosives from Chechnya to Moscow; they were brought to the capital of Russia via cars and lorries.

Viktor Kolchuk says that  the terrorists were divided into groups of ten and three people. All of them knew only their direct commanders. The terrorists saw the organizers of the terrorist act only when the captured the theater.

Three young men in a camouflage were in charge of the terrorists. A certain Abu-Bakar (he is also known by the names Khunov – Aliyev – Elmurzayev). Yasir (who is also known by the name Idris Alkhazurov) was the mastermind of the terrorist act. This man was allegedly trained in Saudi Arabia; he has been in Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Pankissi Gorge, and Chechnya. Yasir spoke the Turkish and Arab languages; he was unlikely a Chechen. He spoke Russian with the terrorists. Alikhan – Movsar Barayev – passed himself off as a Turkish businessman who came from Istanbul to Moscow on a business trip.

Zura, the widow of terrorist leader Arbi Barayev, commanded the female kamikazes. All if these people in command of the terrorists were in their turn dependent as well: they received instructions over the telephone from Chechnya and from abroad (from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries).

In addition, as was reported in the TV program “Special Report,” “a man infiltrated  the special operative headquarters created for the hostage release operation. The man spoke with Movsar Barayev over the telephone and reported all details about the preparation of the special operation. It was by chance that the man was detained at all.” The TV program also unveiled a part of a deciphered conversation between the planted spy and the terrorists in the theater building.

According to the operative data, the terrorist organization headed by Movsar Barayev was paid about 500 thousand dollars as an advance in July 2002. The terrorists also received two minibuses, a Volkswagen Caravella  and a Ford Transit (at a cost of 20-40 thousand dollars) and a Dodge. The terrorists used these vehicles to travel to the theater building in Moscow.

Originally, the terrorists planned to seize the building where the musical “42nd Street” was staged, and not the one where “Nord Ost” was performed. Barayev’s group made took videos of the building and of all entries into the building. However, in the spring, the terrorists changed their minds and decided to seize the “Nord Ost” building.

A spokesman for the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation may take several more months.

Photo by NEWSRU.com