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0/06/2006 | 12:34 Russian bombers passed aviation tower unnoticed The flight tower at Keflavík airport was seemingly unaware of two Russian bombers that flew through Icelandic airspace last Friday. This is claimed by Hjördís Gudmundsdóttir, press officer of the Icelandic Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCAA), although the Minister for Foreign Affairs has made claims to the contrary. RÚV online reports. Gudmundsdóttir says that the DCAA only registers aircraft that have their radars on, and this is not always the case with military aircraft. This was an unusual incident, as Icelandic aviation authorities are usually notified of military rehearsals near the...

MOSCOW: Experts have found explosives in both Russian jets, which crashed simultaneously this week, investigators said on Saturday, supporting theories that bombs downed the aircraft before elections in volatile Chechnya. The FSB security service said on Friday that search teams had turned up traces of explosives in the first of the planes, which crashed on Tuesday, killing 90. "Additional examination of the fragments of the Tu-134 aircraft which crashed on Tuesday ... has revealed traces of hexogen," an FSB spokesman said.

Passengers refuse to fly with two women in black on board09/23/2004 13:51 Incidents when Russian passengers refuse to fly due to suspicious-looking females of Middle Eastern descent are becoming a norm these days. On September 1, the day of the Beslan tragedy, passengers of a Moscow-bound flight from Sharm el Sheih (Egypt) refused to fly with two Muslim women in traditional clothes onboard. This time, another flight from Moscow to Khurgada has been delayed. "Two Egyptian women were set to fly aboard a TU-154 airplane of "KrasAir" departing for Khurgada," stated RIA "Novosti"s" spokesman. A group of five students from...

MOSCOW - Prosecutors charged three people Friday in connection with last month's bombings of two Russian airliners, the Interfax news agency reported. The two planes blew up almost simultaneously on the night of Aug. 24, killing 90 people. It was the start of a series of deadly terrorist attacks blamed on Chechen rebels that killed nearly 440 people, including the school siege in the southern city of Beslan. Police Capt. Mikhail Artamonov, arrested earlier this month, was charged with negligence that led to fatalities, Interfax said, quoting prosecutors. Artamonov is accused of releasing the two women suspected of carrying bombs...

A $49 bribe paved the way for suspected suicide bomber to get a seat on one of two Russian airliners that crashed last month, Russia's leading prosecutor said. The Prosecutor-General, Vladimir Ustinov, also revealed on Wednesday that both suspected bombers had been considered suspicious before boarding the aircraft, but the police officer responsible for searching them had failed to do so. General Ustinov also stressed that corruption was a nationwide problem. "We have checked how the anti-corruption law is enforced in regional government bodies. The picture is assuming a dangerous shape," he said. "The inspection uncovered 22,000 such violations, including...

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian authorities have arrested two people suspected of involvement in the attacks on two Russian planes that crashed nearly simultaneously after explosions on board two weeks ago, killing all 90 people on board, prosecutors said Tuesday. The Russian prosecutor general's office did not identify the detainees or say how they were thought to be involved. The Interfax news agency cited an unnamed source as saying one of the men is suspected of selling plane tickets to two Chechen woman believed to have carried out the Aug. 24 bombings. The man, originally from southern Russia's Krasnodar region, made...

We now know the Russian planes were blown up by 1) women 2) from the toilets. This dovetails ominously with a six month old report from US intelligence that Al Qaeda was recruiting female terrorists to smuggle 8-12 ounces of explosives inside their vaginas, then extract them and assemble the bomb and detonate it from toilet. More here, including the likely effect on the racial profiling debate.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin today linked the downing last week of two passenger airliners to Al-Qaeda. He said this proved the presence of organised international terrorism on Russian soil. "The fact that an international terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda took responsibility for the blowing up of two planes shows once again the link between destructive elements in Chechnya and international terrorism," Mr Putin said in Sochi, Russia. After talks with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr Putin said Russia would continue to combat separatist forces in Chechnya. But he said Moscow was prepared "to continue dialogue...

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov assigned the Finance Ministry to prepare a decree on one-time payments to the relatives of those killed in Tuesday’s air crashes, he said at a meeting with Transport Minister Igor Levitin. For his part, Mr. Levitin said the Transport Ministry was negotiating with the heads of regional administrations and airline companies on the compensations. In particular, the administration of the Volgograd region said it would pay RUR 50,000 (about $1,712) for each crash victim who lived in the region. The Sibir airline company said it would transport the bodies of those who were...

GROZNY, Russia - Against a backdrop of war, squalor and terrorism, Chechens voted Sunday for a replacement for their assassinated president in a vote the Kremlin hopes will bring some stability to the violence-torn region. A man was killed when he attempted to blow up a polling station. Kremlin backing has made Chechnya's top police official, Maj. Gen. Alu Alkhanov, the unquestioned favorite in the race. Russian officials have warned that Chechen rebels might stage attacks to mar the voting — a danger highlighted by the near simultaneous crashes of two jetliners last week that killed 90 people. Traces of...

MOSCOW — Russian investigators found explosives residue on the wreckage of the second of two airliners that crashed minutes apart, a security spokesman said yesterday, adding to evidence that terrorists breached security at one of the country's most up-to-date airports. The announcement came as Chechens prepared to vote today on a successor to the late President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated May 9 in a bomb attack by Muslim separatists. Russian officials had warned of more attacks ahead of the election, and yesterday's finding fingered terrorism as the cause of the near simultaneous crashes of both planes on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian officials said Friday they detected traces of a high explosive in the wreckage of one of two crashed jetliners, branding it the work of terrorists, while an Islamic group claimed its suicide attackers brought down both planes because of the war in Chechnya. At least one crash was "the result of a terrorist act," a spokesman for the Federal Security Service, Sergei Ignatchenko, told the ITAR-Tass news agency. In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said evidence was growing that both crashes "were acts of terrorism." Russia's leaders didn't speculate publicly about who might be responsible...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Explosives have been found in the second of two Russian jets which crashed simultaneously this week killing 90 people, investigators say, having already announced the same discovery in the first aircraft. The latest finding, disclosed by the FSB security service, supported widely-held theories that both aircraft were downed by bombs days ahead of elections in volatile Chechnya. The FSB said on Friday explosives were found in the wreck of the other jet. "Additional examination of the fragments of the Tu-134 aircraft which crashed on Tuesday ... has revealed traces of hexogen," an FSB spokesman said by telephone...

Aug. 28, 2004 — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Explosives have been found in the wreckage of the second of two jets which crashed almost simultaneously this week, Russia's FSB security service said on Saturday. "Additional examination of the fragments of the Tu-134 aircraft which crashed Tuesday ... has revealed traces of hexogen," an FSB spokesman said by telephone. The FSB said Friday that hexogen, more widely known as RDX, had been found in the wreckage of the other plane which crashed Tuesday in southern Russia.

Islamic groups takes responsibility for the crashes - 08/27/2004 21:58 Why do the news of traces of explosives and an Islamic group taking responsibility for the two Russian aircraft crashes not surprise me? I suspected as such from the very first because there was no other logical reasons for the crashes. Clearly, the trademark of terrorists was evident. I spoke to Moslem educator here in the US and he tells me this type of action is not, I repeat, is not according to the will of Allah. So let us knock off this use of the word Islamic alright? Why...

Russian officials investigating the crashes of two passenger planes have discovered the remains of two Chechen women thought to be "Black Widows" - suicide bombers given that name because many have lost husbands in the war with Russia. Officials have also found traces of explosive in the wreckage of at least one of the planes, all but confirming the theory that the jets, which crashed on Tuesday night killing 90, were destroyed by terrorist attacks. Russian soldiers carry the coffin of a victim from the Tu-154 The loss of the two planes, which blew up three minutes apart, is the...

As the nation observed a day of mourning for the 89 victims in Tuesday's dual plane crashes, the travel industry on Thursday barely registered a change in people's willingness to fly. "Our people are not subject to panic. If they are heading out on vacation, the majority will go," said Irina Tyurina, spokeswoman for the Russian Tourism Union. Airlines and tour agencies said they have had very few cancellations, if any. "We have had only two cancellations. Bookings are at the same levels as before," said Irina Savelyeva, general director of Alean, which specializes in domestic travel and sells package...

TU-134 and TU-154 were exploded from their toilets 08/27/2004 20:59 The preliminary results of the investigation of the crash of TU-134 and TU-154 gave the grounds to say that acts of terrorism took place. The pilots of both the planes gave SOS signals, the damages of both the planes were identical - their tails were torn in the air, and there were females whose relatives have no interest to their destiny, on both the planes... The Gazeta obtained the details of the preliminary investigation results of the planes crash. It was detected that shortly before the catastrophes, the pilots of...

MOSCOW (AP) -- One of two Russian airliners that crashed nearly simultaneously was brought down by a terrorist act, officials said Friday, after finding traces of explosives in the plane's wreckage. An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a Web statement. The planes, with 90 people aboard, went down within 20 minutes of each other Tuesday night. In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said there was "mounting evidence" that both crashes "were acts of terrorism." Traces of the explosive hexogen were found in the remains of one of the planes, a Tu-154, security service spokesman Nikolai...

This is just a question - I am wondering if we should have a moment of silence or something to pay respects to the Russian victims of this latest terrorist attack. At least before the world decided to hate the US they mourned with us over 9/11. I really feel like this incident in Russia is being downplayed. Don't blast me.. just a thought...