MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin urged caution on Wednesday in trying to link a deadly blast in a Moscow underpass that killed eight people with Chechen separatists.
"Immediately after the tragedy in central Moscow, two versions were considered an incident and a crime," Putin said in remarks broadcast by main television channels.
"According to early estimates by experts it was a crime. Regarding the suggestions of a terrorist act, I must say it is wrong to look for an ethnic connection, Chechen connection in this or any other crime." Earlier, Interfax news agency released excerpts of Putin's remarks, which contained a suggestion that the blast, in which dozens of people were wounded, could be the result of a settling of accounts by criminals or a terrorist attack.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo separately said on Tuesday they had no doubts the blast, in which dozens were injured, was a terrorist attack. Luzhkov blamed it on the Chechen rebels.
No one has claimed responsibility. Last year, Putin blamed Chechen separatists for a series of bomb blasts in which nearly 300 people died. The rebels denied any involvement in them.
(Reuter)