Bomb Kills Putin's Top Man in Chechnya and 6 Others

A video grab from NTV Russian television shows security personnel helping a man (C), believed to be Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, seconds after an explosion at a stadium in Grozny, May 9, 2004, during annual celebrations of 'Victory Day'. The head of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration on Sunday denied reports that regional president Akhmad Kadyrov and other top officials had been killed in the blast.

By Richard Balmforth

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's top man in Chechnya was assassinated in a bomb attack on Sunday that killed at least six others and dealt a huge blow to the Kremlin leader's plans to stamp out rebellion there.

Moscow's senior soldier in the rebel province was also fighting for his life after being seriously wounded by the blast that tore through the VIP section of a stadium in Grozny where dignitaries gathered to mark the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.

After conflicting reports of the death toll, Russian news agencies said seven people, including an eight-year-old girl, had been killed and more than 50 people injured.

Putin himself announced the death of Akhmad Kadyrov, the 52-year-old president of the region and a key player in Kremlin plans to crush the bloody separatist rebellion.

"Kadyrov passed away on May 9 on the day of our national holiday," a shaken-looking Putin said standing alongside Kadyrov's son, Ramzan, in the Kremlin.

Reuters journalist Adlan Khasanov, who was covering the event, was among those killed, his brother said. Khasanov, 33, had worked as both a Reuters photographer and television cameraman since the late 1990s, mostly in his native Chechnya.

The attack drew immediate condemnation from abroad.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called Putin and told him terrorism should be fought with the instruments of the rule of law and international cooperation.

The European Commission said the attack showed the need to improve international coordination against terrorism worldwide.

The United States condemned the attack. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said: "The United States resolutely rejects all acts of terrorism and those who commit them."

officials was one of the most audacious on Russian forces and the administration in mainly-Muslim Chechnya since Russian troops reoccupied the area in 1999.
"The bomb was placed inside a concrete part of the stadium," said Khamid Kadayev, Chechnya's deputy interior minister. He said this meant it escaped detection in security sweeps.

He did not say how the bomb could have been smuggled in, but reconstruction work had been going on at the stadium.

Interior Ministry officials said an artillery shell, primed to explode, had also been found in a neighboring stand and Chechnya's acting prosecutor Vladimir Kravcheko said a third explosive device was also found later.

"When the scene was inspected, a third explosive device was also found, a plastic bottle with plastic explosives and a timer set for 4:03 a.m. EDT, which means it was to go off half an hour after the first explosion," he said, according to Itar-Tass.

"Everything points to a well-planned terrorist act, prepared over a long period of time, not just a few days," he said.

The commander of Russian forces in the region, General Valery Baranov, was among many injured. One of his legs was torn off in the blast and he was in critical condition undergoing surgery, Interfax news agency said.

Pandemonium broke out when the bomb exploded sending clouds of brown smoke rising up from the wrecked VIP stand. Television showed a boy being rushed away in the arms of a man. An old man, bleeding from the head, limped away supported by two men.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Chechen Information and Nationalities Minister Taus Dzhabrailov quickly pointed the finger at rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov and Moscow's most wanted man, Chechen warrior Shamil Basayev.

"I think that only they could have organized an explosion at such an important occasion. The ground will burn under their feet," he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

Itar-Tass quoted the interior ministry as saying five people had been held in connection with the attack. It gave no details.

The attack on the top-security event attended by military and political officials was one of the most audacious on Russian forces and the administration in mainly-Muslim Chechnya since Russian troops reoccupied the area in 1999.
"The bomb was placed inside a concrete part of the stadium," said Khamid Kadayev, Chechnya's deputy interior minister. He said this meant it escaped detection in security sweeps.

He did not say how the bomb could have been smuggled in, but reconstruction work had been going on at the stadium.

Interior Ministry officials said an artillery shell, primed to explode, had also been found in a neighboring stand and Chechnya's acting prosecutor Vladimir Kravcheko said a third explosive device was also found later.

"When the scene was inspected, a third explosive device was also found, a plastic bottle with plastic explosives and a timer set for 4:03 a.m. EDT, which means it was to go off half an hour after the first explosion," he said, according to Itar-Tass.

"Everything points to a well-planned terrorist act, prepared over a long period of time, not just a few days," he said.

The commander of Russian forces in the region, General Valery Baranov, was among many injured. One of his legs was torn off in the blast and he was in critical condition undergoing surgery, Interfax news agency said.

Pandemonium broke out when the bomb exploded sending clouds of brown smoke rising up from the wrecked VIP stand. Television showed a boy being rushed away in the arms of a man. An old man, bleeding from the head, limped away supported by two men.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Chechen Information and Nationalities Minister Taus Dzhabrailov quickly pointed the finger at rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov and Moscow's most wanted man, Chechen warrior Shamil Basayev.

"I think that only they could have organized an explosion at such an important occasion. The ground will burn under their feet," he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

Itar-Tass quoted the interior ministry as saying five people had been held in connection with the attack.

The burly, bearded Kadyrov, who had survived several attempts on his life, was the linchpin of Putin's attempts to restore firm Russian rule in the north Caucasus region.
Kadyrov, a former rebel leader who switched sides, was elected last October as part of a Kremlin plan to establish full Russian authority in the region.

Apart from the rebels, Kadyrov had many opponents among Russian nationalists, who believed he was given too much power with too little control in his home province.

Putin gave no sign he would make concessions to the rebels.

Speaking to World War II veterans, he said: "There can be no doubt that retribution is unavoidable for those whom we are fighting today. It will be unavoidable for terrorists."

Interfax news agency said Sergei Abramov, at present Chechen prime minister, would take over as acting president.