CAR BOMB ATTACK MAY HAVE BEEN INTENDED TO WARN MINISTER.

Russian police are acting on the hypothesis that the powerful bomb that wrecked the car of First Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Vavilov on February 3 was intended to intimidate the minister. Vavilov handles the Finance Ministry’s relations with commercial banks and his department is responsible for deciding which of them receive licenses. In addition, Vavilov represents the Russian government on the board of directors of Gazprom. (Itar-Tass, NTV, February 4)

Moscow Deflects Criticism on Human Rights.