Three suspects confess in Minsk subway attack

Almaty. April 14. Kazakhstan Today - Three suspects in Belarus have confessed to carrying out a bomb attack which killed 12 people in Minsk, says President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Three suspects have confessed to being involved in the Minsk subway bombing, police said Wednesday, and Belarusian authorities rounded up dissidents across the country after the president declared that they might know who "ordered the attack," The Associated Press reported

The head of the KGB, Belarus' security service, said a man in his mid-20s was arrested and confessed to carrying out the bombing that killed 12 people and wounded over 200 Monday at the main subway station in Minsk, the capital.

KGB chief Vadim Zaitsev did not identify the man and refused to discuss his motives but said he was "not only unhealthy in his psychological state but unhealthy in his ambitions."

Two other suspects also confessed to being involved in the subway attack, Zaitsev and police officials said. They did not elaborate.

Authorities have said the bomb was remote-controlled. CCTV footage showed one suspect leaving a bag in the Oktyabrskaya subway station in central Minsk and feeling around for something in his pocket shortly before the explosion, Deputy Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said.

Interior Minister Anatoly Kuleshov said the main suspect also was involved in a bomb blast at a concert in Minsk in July 2008, which wounded about 50 people, and two bombings in September 2005 in the city of Vitebsk that wounded 48 people.

Belarus observed a day of mourning for the victims Wednesday, and several funerals were held. Several hundred people showed up at the Minsk subway station to observe a minute of silence at 6 p.m., the time of Monday's blast. Flags flew with black ribbons and residents sobbed as they viewed portraits of the victims at the station.

"Belarus is no longer an island of stability and security," said Ruslan Podgorsky, a 46-year-old businessman. "The terrorist act, the economic crisis - it's simply frightening to live here."

In a televised appearance earlier Wednesday, President Alexander Lukashenko suggested the blast was the work of dissidents. He said he had asked the prosecutor general to interrogate opposition figures in connection with the attack "regardless of democracy, and cries and wailing of foreign sufferers," dubbing political opponents a "fifth column" threatening the country.

Lukashenko urged officials to stop "panic" from spreading. This included speculation about the rouble exchange rate and other economic issues, Reuters reports.

The blast has coincided with mounting economic difficulties in Belarus, a country of 10 million people.

The central bank last month allowed a de facto 10 percent rouble devaluation on the interbank market and stopped selling foreign currency from its depleted reserves while the government asked Russia for $3 billion in bailout loans.

However, talks with Moscow are progressing slowly and analysts say further devaluation is very likely.

On Wednesday, the central bank said it would raise its key refinancing rate by 100 basis points to 13 percent, reflecting accelerating inflation.

Photo: Reuters

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