Chechen Militant Leaders Set Up Special Group To Murder Law Enforcers

Chechen militant leaders have set up a special terrorist group for murdering law enforcers in Chechnya, Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia, Sergei Fridinsky, reported on Friday. According to him, over the past two weeks alone, four Prosecutor's Office officials were killed and another two got severe wounds in Chechnya. Fridinsky believes the militant activities have been boosted by money inflows. According to him, the lull reported in Chechnya in the past two months was connected with the Afghan developments. "Foreign sponsors have halted the financing of illegal armed formations first of all because they needed the money for other purposes," Fridinisky said. The work to discover and block militants' financial channels is underway. However, Fridinsky said, there are certain difficulties since money "in bags and packages" are delivered to Chechnya by couriers. In addition, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia assumes, the more frequent terrorist attacks on law enforcers in Chechnya are politically motivated. Fridinsky supposes that at the upcoming PACE session in Januray 2002 these facts will provide good ground for Maskhadov's representatives to report about "continuing disorder in the republic."