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Ibragim Todashev, who died during the interview with authorities, not only confessed to his direct role in slashing the throats of three people in Waltham, Massachusetts, but also fingered Tsarnaev in the deaths, the official said Wednesday.

(Rest of title) Well-to-do Saudi served as Chechen commander and jihadist financier Deceased Chechen commander Ibn al-Khattab In Money Jihad’s earlier post on the history of terror finance in Chechnya, one name came up again and again: Ibn al-Khattab. The terrorist leader was an early disciple of Osama bin Laden, and would benefit from bin Laden’s encouragement and financial support for years until al-Khattab’s death in 2002. But al-Khattab was also a force unto himself, managing the flow of jihadist recruits and financing their operations in the Chechen guerrilla war against Russia. One of the better descriptions of al-Khattab’s activities...

The seed money of major North Caucasus or Chechen terrorist groups such as the Caucasus Emirate, the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB), the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR) and the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM) can all be traced back to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Although we don’t yet know to which groups the two Russian-born brothers of Chechen descent who were identified as suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings may belong, it’s important to take a look back at the origins of the money behind the North Caucasus jihadist network overall. Islamic International...

MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) - Two police officers and a civilian were killed when a roadside bomb exploded early on Wednesday in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Chechnya, a police source said. "The explosion occurred on a road near the village of Belgatoi as a police officer in a Lada drove by," the source said. "He and his two passengers, one of them also a policeman, were killed as a result." Specialists are working at the scene to establish the type of explosive used. The Kremlin announced a formal end to its 10-year counter-terrorism operation in the troubled region...

up on drudge:WASH TIMES: U.S. security officials are investigating a recent intelligence report that a group of 25 Chechen terrorists illegally entered the United States from Mexico... Members of the group, said to be wearing backpacks, secretly traveled to northern Mexico and crossed into a mountainous part of Arizona, Gertz to report in Pgae One Splash, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE...

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Thursday rejected three lawsuits by six plaintiffs against the city government for damages suffered by hostages in the terrorist seizure of a Moscow theater last year. The court did not rule on the remaining 18 lawsuits because the plaintiffs had not appeared during the hearings. ``I have no words, only emotions,'' said Alexander Karpov, the father of one of the victims. His case was not among those rejected, but he said he now held out little hope for winning a judgment. Sixty-one victims of the Oct. 23-26 theater siege filed suit for nearly...

MOSCOW (AP) — Lawyers for dozens of victims of a deadly October theater raid sought Thursday to remove the judge hearing their lawsuits for millions of dollars from the Moscow government, arguing a conflict of interest. Sixty-one victims of the Oct. 23-26 theater siege have filed suits against the city government for nearly $60 million, an unprecedented demand in Russia. Moscow's Tverskoi district court began considering the first 24 suits on Thursday. The victims' lawyers demanded that Judge Maria Gorbacheva be dismissed from the case, saying all city judges receive subsidies from the city, making them dependent on the authorities....

Rebels in the breakaway province of Chechnya are a bunch of international terrorists who believe that all non-Muslims deserve to die, Russia's President Vladimir Putin told a summit meeting of the 15-nation European Union. "They talk about the need to kill all non-Muslims, all cross-bearers," Mr Putin told a news conference with EU leaders. "If you are Christian, your life is threatened. If you reject your religion and become an atheist you are also in danger. If you will decide to become Muslim, even this will not save you because traditional Islam is from their perspective hostile to their purposes...