Tip-off `led kidnappers to execute hostages'
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Your support makes all the difference.KIDNAPPERS WHO executed four Western hostages during a bungled rescue attempt in Chechnya may have been tipped off about the impending operation by members of the Chechen security forces.
Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen President, confirmed yesterday that the four communications engineers were executed after his forces mounted a rescue operation based on information obtained from an imprisoned kidnapper. A macabre photograph of the men's severed heads was released by the authorities.
"The criminals brutally executed the hostages while an operation for their release was under way," President Maskhadov said. "It was a barbaric act against foreigners, guests of the republic, internationalists. [It] fills the souls of Chechens with hatred to the ones who committed this awful crime."
However, official sources in Grozny yesterday told The Independent that information about the operation may have been leaked to the kidnappers. "It is very hard to mount an operation of this type in Chechnya," said the source, who had been briefed by Chechen authorities. "Some of the soldiers may be related to the kidnappers. This means the kidnappers could have been informed."
It was also revealed that Granger Telecom, which employed three of the men, was negotiating a ransom for the hostages' release, against the express advice of the Foreign Office, before the rescue mission.
Details of the rescue attempt remained scant yesterday, with differing reports and rumours circulating. One theory suggested the murders may have been the result of a struggle over telecommunications.
Some reports said the rescue attempt was launched on the night of 3 December, while others said it happened on 7 December, the night before the heads were found.
While the location of the operation is unknown, it is understood that five kidnappers and two security force members were killed in the action. The severed heads of the engineers were found in east Chechnya near Assinovskaya, a village 10 miles from the border with Ingushetia. Sources said the kidnappers may have spent time over the border.
The Foreign Office minister Tony Lloyd told the Commons it seemed "likely [the men] were killed as a consequence of fighting between rival Chechen forces".
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