6 MH N 35, 14-20.9.99

Trud-7, 16.9.99

DETAILS

Mukhid Laypanov: terrorist or victim?
Suspected criminal

Mukhid Laypanov, suspected of involvement in the bombings of residential buildings on Guryanova Street and Kashirskoye Highway, is not actually Laypanov. Yesterday afternoon, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo released information: a person with that name died in a traffic accident in the winter of this year. However, upon closer examination, the answer to the question of whether Laypanov is alive or dead appeared to "MN" [Moskovskiye Novosti] to be not so straightforward.

We managed to find out that Mukhid Nazirovich Laypanov, born in 1964, is registered in the Uchkeken district of Karachay-Cherkessia, in the village of Krasny Kurgan, which is quite remote from the capital. "Registered" instead of "deregistered due to death" is not a slip of the tongue: data that this person is currently registered (and therefore quite alive) at the specified address was obtained from the secretariat of the head of the Cherkessk ROVD [District Department of Internal Affairs], A.V. Pushkarsky. The same was said at the republican address bureau. From fellow villagers of the Laypanov family, however, we received completely different information.

• First: Mukhid did indeed die in a car crash in February of this year—he and a friend "collided with a bus near Cherkessk," both are dead.
• Second: Laypanov's grave is in the cemetery of the same Krasny Kurgan.
• Third: according to neighbors, the deceased Mukhid "looks absolutely nothing like" the composite sketch shown on TV.

As we can see, the words of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are generally confirmed by ordinary citizens of the Russian Federation and de facto refuted by the structures of this ministry "on the ground." In this regard, a number of questions arise.

• Why did the Moscow GUVD [Main Directorate of Internal Affairs] and the capital's FSB directorate not take measures after the explosion on Guryanova Street to find out if there are other houses in Moscow where a certain Laypanov is renting any premises?
• Where did the accident that killed the real Laypanov occur—near Cherkessk or on the territory of the Stavropol Krai, as federal officials claim?
• Finally: how did it happen that a death certificate, without which an official funeral is impossible, was issued for a person who is alive according to the police documents of the region where he was registered?

Many questions could be clarified by Mukhid's father, who lives in the same village of Krasny Kurgan, but his phone, by a strange coincidence, did not answer, although it was not difficult to reach other residents of Krasny Kurgan.

Yuri VASILYEV

WHO IS MUKHIT LAYPANOV?

As soon as the name of the alleged terrorist responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Muscovites was made public, we began our own investigation.

The first call was to the representative office of the Republic of Ichkeria in Moscow. The head of the press service, Kheda Abdulaeva, seemed ready for our questions and answered without hesitation:

• "First of all, Laypanov is not Chechen, but judging by his appearance and surname, he is Karachay."
• "Could he have been a mercenary for Chechen field commanders?"
• "It is unpleasant to me that out of all the versions, the investigation chose only one—the 'Chechen trail.' But in any case, I want to state: the official authorities of Ichkeria have nothing to do with the terrorist attack. There are forty teips [clans] in Chechnya; the elders of none of them know Laypanov, they do not know who is behind the terrorist acts in Moscow."

A St. Petersburg correspondent, at my request, found out that some Chechens saw Laypanov in the cities of Grozny and Shali...

There is no telephone connection with Grozny, but it is possible to contact Shali. I am talking to the deputy head of the administration for economic issues, Akhmed Duguzov.

• "There are no terrorists in our city, and there never were," he assures. "After all, we are the province, and all the military are in Grozny or in the mountains. The residents of our city are not interested in fighting; we are interested in being left alone. And not being bombed."
• "If we knew Laypanov, we would have long ago taken the trouble to find him and cut off his head. Otherwise, some provoke, and others, that is, us, peaceful people, receive blows of retribution on our heads."

A few minutes after this conversation, a certain Salambek calls me and dumps this information:

• "Interested in who Laypanov is? I'll tell you for free. Not to you, but to those who are listening to the conversation. He is a businessman, studied in Moscow, then in London. He collaborated with British intelligence services. He was in Chechnya on their assignment. The goal is to facilitate the access of British companies to Caspian oil. The route: through Chechnya to Dagestan. That is, they have already agreed with the militants, all that remains is to take control of Dagestan, conquer it, unite into a common Islamic state or something else... Any means can be used..."

The connection is cut off; I don't have time to process the (false?) information yet—another call, also from a satellite phone, already a different voice:

• "Laypanov died a long time ago; other people are using his documents..."

Mikhail ZUBOV.