BRIEFS

–INTERNET CAFES SHUT DOWN IN INGUSHETIA

The pro-Moscow administration in Ingushetia has now shut down the last surviving Internet cafes in that republic, Radio Liberty reported on October 18. The website ingushetiya.ru quoted an official as charging that the Internet had been used to spread “knowingly false information.”

–FINNS SHUT DOWN PRO-SEPARATIST WEBSITE

Last week the Finnish authorities closed the controversial Kavkaz Center website, which is run by Chechen extremists. The website has frequently been used to disseminate announcements from terrorist leaders such as Shamil Basaev. An official of the Finnish foreign ministry said that the identities of those who had created the site were known to the Finnish police.

–SECURITY REMAINS PROBLEMATIC AT RUSSIAN AIRPORTS

Even after the August downing of two Russian passenger jets by suicide bombers, security at Russia’s civilian airports remains porous. Agence France-Presse reported on October 12 that in an October 1 test, three FSB agents smuggled fake bombs past guards at the airport in Voronezh, 270 miles south of Moscow. The agents were able to get past security even though the authorities had announced earlier that “terrorists” were planning to strike on that day. Proving the security system’s continuing vulnerability to corruption, one of the undercover agents paid a baggage handler a mere 500 rubles (about US$17) to carry a package with a fake bomb onto a jet.