140 detained in Moscow for connection to 'Islamist extremist groups'

 

 

FSB: 140 detained in Moscow for connection to 'Islamist extremist groups'

Get short URL

Published time: April 26, 2013 15:23

http://rt.com/news/moscow-islamist-extremist-detained-456/

 

 

Russia's Federal Security Service announced that 140 people have been

detained in the Russian capital for suspected membership in extremist

Islamist organizations.

 

More than 30 of those detained are reportedly foreign nationals, the FSB

said in a statement.

 

According to law enforcement, the chapel in southern Moscow, Dar al-arkam,

where the suspects were detained was often visited by people who later

"converted to radicalism and joined militant groups active in the North

Caucasus, as well as participated in preparing and perpetrating terrorist

acts in Russia."

 

The investigation that resulted in mass arrests was aimed at finding people

who have been wanted for extremist activities and terrorism.

 

Thus, a student of one of Moscow universities Ibragim Pliev also attended

the Muslim prayer house. Under the influence of radicals in May of 2011 he

joined the militant organization that was acting in the North Caucasus. He

was killed resisting arrest during a law enforcement operation in 2011.

 

In July 2011, four people were detained in Moscow on suspicions of plotting

bomb attacks on the subway and police department. At the time, it was

revealed that the four, all from the North Caucasus, repeatedly visited Dar

al-arkam.

 

Russia's North Caucasus is considered to be one of the country's most

troubled regions, with frequent reports of terror attacks and anti-terror

operations in the area.

 

In April 2009, Russia announced the end of its decade-long counter-terrorism

operation against militants in Chechnya. However, sporadic terrorist attacks

inside the region and beyond still continue.

 

Russia's most wanted fugitive is Islamist Chechen warlord Doku Umarov. He

claimed responsibility for the most notorious terrorist attacks in Russia

during the last decade - the mass hostage-taking at a Moscow theater in

October 2002, the deadly 2004 siege at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia;

the bombings at two Moscow metro stations in 2010 and blasts in Moscow

Domodedovo airport in 2011.

 

Another Russian southern republic, Dagestan has seen a low-level Islamist

insurgency for over a decade, with the majority of the terrorist attacks

targeting officials and security forces.

 

The North Caucasus, including the Russian republics of Chechnya and

Dagestan, has been in the headlines since authorities in Boston confirmed

that the two Tsarvaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing,

were ethnic Chechens. The elder brother, Tamerlan, is said to be a follower

of radical Islamism. It has since been revealed the Russian authorities

repeatedly warned the FBI about the potential threat Tamerlan Tsarnaev posed

and "at least once since October 2011."

 

==========================================

(F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this

message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to

these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed

within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with

"Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.

The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The

Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain

permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials

if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting,

teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria

for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies

as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four

criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is

determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not

substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use

copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you

must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

 

THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND DISSEMINATION IS

PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS.