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DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Explosion Kills Two In Ufa...
Two people were killed and three were injured when a car bomb exploded
in Ufa on the night of 5 November, an RFE/RL Ufa correspondent and
Russian and Bashkir news agencies reported on 6 November. The Bashkir
Interior Ministry said that the bomb was detonated by remote control
when a jeep belonging to the Shchit company was passing by. Shchit
guards the property and management of Bashkirenergo, the chairman of
which is President Murtaza Rakhimov's son, Ural. Two Shchit guards,
aged 29 and 33, were killed and two more were hospitalized in serious
condition. A driver of another car was slightly injured by the
explosion.
Bashkir Interior Ministry press service head Ruslan Sherefetdinov said
the bomb must have contained up to 700 grams of TNT and was filled
with bolts, screws, and pieces of metal pipe. Sherefetdinov said the
car was sold by an unemployed Ufa resident to an unidentified
individual two months ago. Sherefetdinov said that he believes the aim
of the bombing is to destabilize the political situation in the
republic on the eve of the 7 December presidential and State Duma
elections.
He also said the bombing recalls the 27 September event when police
defused a radio-controlled bomb containing 1,200 grams of TNT that was
located in a car in downtown Ufa not far from the office of Ural
Rakhimov.
....Which Presidential Candidate Says Authorities May Use To Restrict
Opposition Campaigning
Bashkir presidential candidate Relif Safin said on 6 November that the
car-bomb explosion could destabilize the situation in Bashkortostan on
the eve of the elections, RosBalt reported the same day, citing
Safin's spokeswoman Tatyana Ivanova. Safin believes that the local
authorities "may use the antiterrorist campaign to pursue their
political goals." He predicted that the authorities may tighten
traffic inspections during the election campaign and "create obstacles
for the activities of independent observers under the pretence of
looking for terrorists."
Speaking on a live Ekho Moskvy program on 6 November, Safin said no
equal opportunities exist in the election race in Bashkortostan. "All
the candidates can confirm that no equality exists in the elections.
There is evidence by people and hundreds of signatures," Safin said.
He said that "Moscow should interfere in the situation," adding that
if a commission came to the region, it would be able to determine that
"lawlessness is growing in the center of Russia."
Suspicious Incident At Independent Radio Station
A group of unidentified persons headed by an Interior Ministry major
on 5 November tried to dismantle an antenna and broadcasting equipment
at Ufa's Bulgar radio station, the only independent radio station in
Bashkortostan, Ekho Moskvy and bashkir.ru reported the same day.
Station Deputy Director Sergei Anatskii was reported as saying that
the group was found on the roof of the building where broadcasters are
located and disappeared without comment after reporters appeared. The
radio station had launched several days before its broadcasting from
that location with powerful, renovated equipment that enables it to
reach Ufa and neighboring raions.
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