[Presenter] Today, in Makhachkala [capital of Dagestan], representatives of the Federal Security Service are expected give first comments on progress in the investigation into the terrorist attack in Kaspiysk...
We now have a live link-up with our correspondent in Makhachkala, Ilyas Shurpayev. So, Ilyas, have there been any first comments?
[Correspondent] Yes, Olga, just a few minutes ago Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General Vladimir Kolesnikov came out with the first comment. He said those who had ordered the terrorist attack were already known, quite a lot was known, including the mechanism of the execution of this attack. However, in the interests of the investigation, he cannot reveal any information at all. Vladimir Kolesnikov said that it was done to protect those who, as he put it, are in the trenches, i.e. work under cover among the terrorists.
Nevertheless, Vladimir Kolesnikov said that he could make public the information they had just received. About 40 people have been detained on suspicion of participation in and organization of terrorist attacks carried out on the territory of Dagestan over the past year and in early 2002. Many of them underwent training in Chechnya, some in the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia and others even in Afghanistan.
The deputy prosecutor-general said several terrorist groups may operate on the territory of Dagestan that were not directly connected with each other but were controlled by the same organization...