Appendix 1

July 26, 2002, "Vedomosti"

Gochiyayev Denies Guilt

Oleg Chertkov, Ekaterina Kudashkina

Achimez Gochiyayev, a suspect in organizing the apartment bombings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, denies his guilt. A copy of his letter, instead of the video recording promised several days earlier, was delivered yesterday to Moscow from London by former FSB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Litvinenko.

The public commission for the investigation of the apartment bombings, organized by representatives of the "Liberal Russia" party, held a teleconference with London yesterday. Alexander Litvinenko handed over a copy of Gochiyayev's letter and an accompanying note to the commission members. According to Litvinenko, the video recording could not be delivered for technical reasons.

As Gochiyayev claims in the letter, he did not blow up the houses in Moscow, but only rented several basements at the request of a friend. The suspect claims that on September 13, after hearing about the explosions, he called the police, the "ambulance" service, and the Rescue Service, reporting warehouses in the buildings on Borisovskie Prudy and in Kapotnya.

In the accompanying note, Litvinenko and historian Yuri Felshtinsky (co-author with the lieutenant colonel of the book "Blowing Up Russia") suggested that the public commission check the databases of the police, "ambulance," and Rescue Service for September 13.

One of the commission members, deputy Sergei Yushenkov, told Vedomosti that the relevant requests to the Rescue Service, FSB, MVD, and Prosecutor General's Office are currently only being prepared.

An employee of the Moscow Rescue Service, Andrei Gusev, told Vedomosti that this kind of information can be obtained in three hours. Another employee of this service, Maksim Simakov, told Vedomosti that so far, neither commission members nor law enforcement agencies have contacted them regarding the date of September 13, 1999.

"There are dozens of such calls every day. But there have been no requests for this date," Simakov said. (Emphasis added by me for convenience. — L.E.)

In addition, yesterday Litvinenko and Felshtinsky questioned the authenticity of photos of Gochiyayev posted on the FSB website (in which the suspect is captured in the company of the now-deceased field commander Khattab). They said the expert analysis was conducted by Geoffrey John Oxlee from the London company Kalagate. "This is a photo montage," the London whistleblowers claim. They are supported by one of the commission members, co-chairman of the "Liberal Russia" party Sergei Yushenkov. "And from this it follows that the FSB is lying," Yushenkov told Vedomosti.

In a conversation with Vedomosti, Geoffrey John Oxlee confirmed the fact that an expert analysis was conducted, but stated: "There is no confirmation that the photographs [posted on the FSB website] were montaged. From a legal point of view, it would be incautious to make such conclusions."

At the FSB Public Relations Center, a Vedomosti correspondent was told that they "do not intend to participate in a promotional campaign for dubious people, let alone enter into a polemic with them." They also reminded that they had already approached the British intelligence services with a request to interview Alexander Litvinenko.