KHANKALA. July 5 (Interfax-AVN) - A rebel group which planned to carry out terrorist attacks using mercury has been eliminated in Chechnya, a military official said.
"A member of the group voluntarily surrendered 2.5 kilograms of mercury, which was intended to be used in a terrorist attack in Gudermes," spokesman for the headquarters of the anti-guerilla operation in the North Caucasus Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Monday.
The rebel said that warlord Shamil Basayev had ordered criminal groups to foil the Chechen presidential elections in 2003. A special group, led by the former chief of Basayev's bodyguards and the Wahhabi emir in the Kurchaloi district, was formed for this purpose. The rebels' goal was to stage terrorist acts against Chechen officials and residents of Gudermes using toxic agents, Shabalkin said.
He said the terrorists had acquired and supplied 2.5 kilograms of mercury compounds to the person who was supposed to carry out the attack.
As a result of preventative operations undertaken by law enforcement organizations, nearly all the members of this terrorist group have been eliminated, said Shabalkin.