»Russia Blames Terrorism for Downed Plane«

MOSCOW - The discovery of traces of explosives in the wreckage of one of two airliners that crashed almost simultaneously this week have confirmed a widely suspected terrorist connection and stoked speculation that the disasters were linked to bloodshed in Chechnya

A Web site connected to Islamic militants claimed the crashes, which killed 90 people, were retaliation for Russia's protracted civil war in the troubled republic, which holds an election Sunday to replace its assassinated Kremlin-backed president.

Russian officials also said they were investigating the backgrounds of two female passengers with Chechen-sounding names — one on each of the planes — who booked tickets on the flights at the last minute and were the only victims whose relatives have not contacted authorities.


The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said Friday that investigators picking through the ruins of a Tu-154 jet that crashed in a southern coal mining region, some 600 miles south of Moscow, found traces of the high-explosive hexogen.