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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Porous security cited in Russian plane booms |
| 2004-09-16 |
| First through police bungling, then in part through a petty bribe, the two Chechen women who killed themselves and 88 others in the bombings of two Russian passenger jets last month were able to pass uninspected through layers of airport security and checks, even after being identified as possible terrorists, Russia's senior prosecutor said Wednesday. The fresh details that came to light on Wednesday about the worst terrorist acts to strike Russia's aviation industry provide a chilling view of the nation's weaknesses as it tries to defend itself from escalating terror strikes. In an interview with the Russian news media, Prosecutor General Vladimir V. Ustinov said that the two women had been detained in the airport shortly before boarding, but both were released by a police supervisor and one swiftly bribed her way onto the aircraft she would later destroy. She paid a paltry sum: the price to board Sibir Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev-154 with 45 other people on board, with a ticket for the next day's flight was equivalent to $34, Mr. Ustinov said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |