Arab television channel Al Jazeera has broadcast a videotape of the man it says is the leader of Arab fighters in Chechnya, vowing to stage a new wave of attacks inside Russia. Abu al-Waleed, said by the Kremlin of being among those behind last month’s bombing on the Moscow underground, added that his campaign might depend on the outcome of Russia’s coming presidential polls. "The enemies of God drop mines in the forests and, God willing, we will return them to the Russians and they will find them on their land and in the midst of their families," said the bearded man who was standing in a forest. "But perhaps we may wait a little to see the upcoming elections. If they elect someone who declares war on Chechnya, then the Russians are declaring war against the Chechens and by God we will send them these (mines)... Not only these but also things that did not cross their minds," he said. The man, wearing military fatigues and a beret and speaking in Arabic, was shown picking up a "butterfly" mine from foliage. He said his fighters had found hundreds of them. "We will return these to you (Russians)...You will, God willing, see hundreds of people crippled," he said. Officials at Qatar-based Al Jazeera were not immediately available on Saturday to comment on when or how they received the videotape.
Security has been tightened across Russia ahead of Sunday’s elections and extra troops have been stationed along the border of Chechnya, where rebels have long been fighting Russian rule. The Kremlin blames Chechen rebels for a spate of attacks including a suicide bombing which killed close to 50 people on a train in southern Russia before last December’s parliamentary polls and the attack on the underground, which killed around 40. The Kremlin believes Abu al-Waleed was also among those behind the 1999 apartment bombings across Russia that prompted President Vladimir Putin to send troops back into Chechnya. |