Train Bombing Overshadows Russian Election

More than 24 hours after a bomb ripped through a commuter train near the border to Chechnya the death toll has risen to 42. Some 200 people have been hospitalized with injuries in the blast which occurred during the main rush hour on Friday just outside the southern Russian city of Yessentuki. Many of the victims were children and students on their way to school and university.

Authorities say the blast is the work of suicide bombers, and although they have not explicitly linked the attack to Chechen rebels, it is the latest in a long series of bombings that have struck Russians in recent years, both inside and outside Chechnya. In the last year alone 250 people were killed in a wave of attacks in Moscow and elsewhere which were blamed on the separatists.

However, Aslan Maskhadov, a rebel leader and former Chechen president, has denied Chechen responsibility for the train attack and issued a statement condemning acts of violence against civilians.

Russian officials have vowed to find those responsible. "The earth will be burning under their feet," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov as saying. "These animals will not feel safe anywhere. We will find them and punish them as the law demands."
Speaking on Russian television after the attack, President Vladimir Putin denounced it as "an attempt to destabilize the situation in the country on the eve of parliamentary elections," which take place on Dec. 7.

International condemnation

European and international leaders have unanimously condemned Friday’s bombing as an act of terror. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, in a personal letter to Putin, said he was shocked to hear of the "cruel attack."

"This hateful attack should be condemned in the strongest terms," he said.

German foreign minister Joschka Fischer called the bombing a "despicable act of terror" that "fills us with dismay and outrage."

The United States said nothing could justify such a "terrorist act." White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan issued a statement offering condolences to the families of the victims: "We stand with the Russian people in their fight against terrorism," he said.

Despite European criticism of Russia’s policies in Chechnya, EU leaders made no reference to the Kremlin’s actions in the break-away republic in their condemnation of the attack. The president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, said the EU executive rejected any form of terrorism "whatever the motives and whoever the authors."

Speaking in Brussels, Prodi said the blast was aimed at destabilizing the election. He said the European Commission was committed to the fight against world terrorism "side by side with Russia and other international partners, in full respect for the rules of law."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, called the bombing another "cowardly" and "barbaric" attack. Previously Berlusconi had created a stir by accusing the media of "telling tales" about the situation in Chechnya, where Russian troops have been accused of killing civilians in the war against the separatists.

In a letter to Putin, the Italian leader wrote "Let’s deal with the pain together, united in our determination to defeat hatred and violence with the arms of the rule of law and democracy."