Bin Laden link with Chechnya

Osama Bin Laden has close ties with Chechen terrorists and exerts influence within this territory.

The BBC Money programme, which will be broadcast on November 21st, tells the story of four telecommunications engineers who were decapitated by Chechen terrorists on the orders of Osama Bin Laden.

The four engineers, three Britons and a New Zealander, were murdered in December, 1998 after having been kidnapped by Chechen terrorists, who had agreed a ransom with the company they were working for, British-based Granger Telecom. However, Osama Bin Laden informed the leader of the Chechens, Arbi Baraev, that he would pay more than the ransom if the engineers were murdered.

Baraev accepted and the engineers’ heads were cut off and left at the roadside. Baraev was killed in a skirmish with Russian troops in June. The one responsible for the murders is named as “Khamzat”, who remains at large, according to the programme.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru