The office of Russia’s prosecutor general unexpectedly announced today that it had closed its investigation into three apartment bombings in September 1999 that killed 243 people and wounded 1,742 others. The action provided a subdued coda to the sensational wave of violence that led to the second war in Chechnya, swept Vladimir V. Putin into power and spawned dark tales of conspiracy. Agreeing with what officials have claimed from the start, prosecutors announced that nine Russian and foreign Islamic fighters carried out the bombings — two in Moscow and one in the southern city of Volgodonsk — presumably to advance the separatist movement in Chechnya. Strikingly, though, none of those accused appeared to be Chechens themselves. Rather, they were Muslim fighters from other regions, which raises questions about Russia’s stated reasons for starting the second war in Chechnya only weeks after the bombings. Full Story
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