Chechen invasion of Dagestan in 1999.

"When all the evidence is gathered, we will bring charges against him and seek him worldwide for financing terrorists," a representative of the prosecutor's office said yesterday.

Anticipating these charges, the tycoon, involved in a "fight to the death" with the Russian president, admitted to contributing a million dollars to Shamil Basaev, the head of the Chechen war, to "finance a cement plant."

It is not without doubt that it was a coincidence that he chose March 5, the anniversary of Stalin's death, to give his press conference - he, who regularly exposes the march toward "fascism" led by Vladimir Putin. In Moscow and many cities in Russia, rallies were held exposing the "return of Stalinism" in Russia. And at the very moment when Boris Berezovsky was presenting his film, two hundred protesters gathered in front of the Lubyanka, the FSB headquarters, to call for the organization of human rights protection.

"Financial Times", London

06.07.2002. Berezovsky makes allegations about bomb blasts (Arkady Ostrovsky in London, Robert Cottrell in Moscow)

Boris Berezovsky, once one of Russia's most powerful oligarchs, yesterday made a bid from exile in London to return to the Russian political scene.

At a press conference, the sidelined media mogul threw his weight behind allegations that Russian special services blew up several apartment buildings in Moscow and other Russian cities in 1999 to create a pretext for Russia's military action in Chechnya.

• "I am sure that these explosions [in Moscow and Volgodonsk] were organized by the Federal Security Service (FSB)," he said, accusing Mr. Putin of knowing about them.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, officials tried to beat Mr. Berezovsky with his own weapon, renewing allegations that he provided money to "Chechen criminal groups" in 1999.

Mr. Berezovsky showed journalists part of a film titled "Assassination of Russia," in which two French film journalists link the September 1999 attacks to the FSB. Mr. Berezovsky called for an international investigation into the bombings.

Mr. Berezovsky, who was close to Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian prime minister {as they have it}, has since fallen out of favor with the Kremlin and now lives in self-imposed exile in Europe.

In January, his TV6 television company was declared bankrupt by a court and closed, giving the Kremlin de-facto control over all nationwide television channels for the first time since the Soviet era and sparking international protests over civil liberties violations.

The FSB shrugged off Mr. Berezovsky's appeals regarding the bombs, stating that it saw "no need to engage in polemics with a private individual."

"International Herald Tribune", Frankfurt

06.03.2002. Berezovsky accuses Putin of the Bombs. Allegations of knowledge of state involvement (David Hoffman, "Washington Post")

London: Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin knew that the country's special services were involved in