Extreme nationalists under suspicion in Russian terror blast probe

Aug 15, 2007, 14:51 GMT

Moscow - Russian officials investigating a bomb attack on the country's most vital rail connection said Wednesday they had an identikit picture and information regarding a suspect, Interfax new sagency reported.

Deputy Russian Prosecutor-General Alexander Bastrykin said investigators had now got initial information about one suspect.

Investigators had said earlier they were seeking information on two suspects seen on the rail line by passengers before the blast.

Suspicion was now being directed at extreme nationalists and rebels from the Caucusus region, Interfax reported, citing sources close to the investigation. The attack near Novograd Veliki injured 60 people.

A leader of a Novograd-based, right-wing anti-immigration group was being questioned Wednesday. A leader of the Chechen community in the Novograd area had also being questioned, reports said.

The remote-detonated blast late Monday blew the Moscow-St Petersburg Nevsky Express, one of Russia's most modern trains, off the tracks as it travelled at around 180 kilometres an hour with 251 people on board.

Investigators said remains of a homemade bomb with the force of two kilos of TNT were found. The blast left a metre-and-a-half-deep crater at the Novograd Veliki site near Malaya Vishera, 500 kilometres north of Moscow.

At least 60 people were reported injured, 20 of them seriously, including three in critical condition.

Officials assumed it was a terrorist attack, with a connection to Chechen rebels also being considered.

Chechen rebels and affiliated extremists from the Caucusus region have carried out frequent attacks on the civilian population in Russia.