Lidove Noviny ("People's News"), Prague

06.03.2002. Influential Entrepreneur accused Putin of supporting terrorism

London. - Russian entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky stated yesterday that the Russian secret service (FSB) was behind the series of assassination attempts [bombings] that cost the lives of three hundred people in Russia in 1999. And that the current president, Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister at the time, "at the very least knew" about this action. Putin built his campaign before the presidential elections, which elevated him to the head of the country, on the slogan of restoring order. Berezovsky, who is now in disgrace in Russia, observing Kremlin affairs, attributed responsibility for these attacks to the FSB, which, however, did not coordinate with Putin. The Russian prosecutor's office did not lag behind and reported yesterday that it has at its disposal evidence of Berezovsky's participation in preparing the invasion of Chechen radicals into Dagestan in 1999. His participation in Russian assassination attempts in the Caucasus is also being checked (CTK agency).

Le Monde, Paris

07.03.2002. Former associate of Boris Yeltsin accuses special services of the 1999 assassination attempts. Mr. Berezovsky calls himself "at war to the death" with Mr. Putin (Sophie Shihab)

The Russian President seeks more than anything else the oblivion of the way in which he came to power

London (from our special correspondent)

A completely discredited person who regularly promises "revelations" on a burning topic, never presenting them—is he not doing a disservice to the cause he claims to serve? This question could be raised following the press conference organized on Tuesday, March 5, in London by the former Russian oligarch, now in exile, Boris Berezovsky.

The stated object of the exercise: to bring about the start of an investigation into the September 1999 assassination attempts [bombings] in Russia, the 300 deaths in which served to justify tens of thousands of deaths in the subsequent war in Chechnya, all this to install Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The attacks that served to create all this were allegedly not Chechen, as the authorities claim without having evidence, but by the special services, and in particular the FSB, the successor to the KGB. Vladimir Putin himself "was at least informed about the role of his services," Mr. Berezovsky stated.

Beside him is allegedly a "surprising witness" to the case, not necessarily related to the attacks, French journalist Jean-Charles Deniau, who has just finished a documentary film on this subject, a British explosives expert, and two Duma deputies who, having failed to stir their colleagues, wished to inform international authorities. Despite their reinforcement, the fallen tycoon with haggard features did not meet the expectations he himself had generated on December 14, promising to showcase {or produce, create} - in February - new documents about the attacks. In the autumn, he had already sponsored the publication of a book which, while presenting an abundance of signs and details collected for the first time, added almost nothing to what had already been said by various mass media.

Once again, on Tuesday, third parties did not present {or create} anything that could serve as evidence before a court, as evaluated in the corridors of the Royal United Services Institute, where dozens of journalists responded to the ex-oligarch's invitation. Mr. Berezovsky smiled, guaranteeing that suspicions regarding the FSB "do not just come to his mind, as they did recently." While a significant part of Russia itself had already harbored these suspicions immediately after the attacks,