Keen vendetta for Chechen commander Khattab’s death - 20 September, 2002

The special operation of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) on the elimination of the well-known Chechen commander Khattab  was a reason for his milieu to think over keen vendetta. Khattab died, after he received a poisoned letter.

The Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote that nuclear smugglers from the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan tried to establish a contact with  influential Mujahideens from Khattab's team in order to offer them a batch of radioactive materials. The author of the article referred to an analytical note, which was written by an official of the Russian Army Headquarters (most likely, by the Central Intelligence Department). There was even a copy of that note published.

That paper was first exposed to the society last week, by the deputy chairman of the State Duma security committee, Viktor Ilyukhin. According to the document, agents of the Moscow Chechen diaspora reported that the sellers of radioactive materials left for Chechnya in the middle of July, 2002. They went there from Kazakhstan via Moscow. When  they arrived, the gunmen were offered to make a purchase in the Kazakh town of Jezkazgan. Agents’ information was confirmed on June 22, after the units of radio-electronic intelligence intercepted a call-over of the guides that were leading Kazakh emissaries to mountainous areas of Chechnya.

Ilyukhin advised that it went about osmium-187. There were several occasions, when this nuclide was sold in Russia during the current year. Corporation Kazakhmys was taken under strict control of special services because of those occasions. This company has reportedly been one of the largest osmium suppliers to the black market lately. Kazakhmys still has platinoid separation technologies at its disposal.

The company “inherited” those technologies since the Soviet era. Kazakhmys was set up  in 1992, on the base of a non-ferrous organization. The company controls a private capital in South Korea. Furthermore,  it has rather a powerful security service, which is like a state within a state.

The mentioned newspaper also cited expert Mikhail Shingarin. The expert stated that osmium isotopes were one of requisite components for making mini-nukes.  Those mini nukes are basically used for subversive activities on important military and industrial objects. The expert also added that only Russia and the USA had the technologies of their production.

Chechen guerrillas could take osmium isotope from Chechnya to Georgia and then deliver it to a scientific nuclear center in order to manufacture a mini nuke.

Russian officials have to realize that the Russian Federation is dealing with another occasion of international terrorism on its own territory. This idea should be brought to the West, until they agree that a nuclear threat is not an issue for Russia only. For the time being, the West keeps on associating Chechnya  with a  place, where human rights are violated. As we can see, Chechen terrorists have a whole network of their activity, they do not act separately from each other.

The American FBI reported yesterday that Al-Qaeda terrorists were working on new variants of acts of terrorism in the USA. It was added that terrorists planned to use up to 20 Chechen guerrillas that were connected with Al-Qaeda. It would be very good for Russia to remind the West of that at the coming PACE session this fall.

Sergey Yugov
PRAVDA.Ru