3 nabbed over Belarus metro blast

Belarusian police officers inspect a young man's bag.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174702.html

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says three detained suspects have confessed to their involvement in a metro bombing in the capital Minsk that killed a dozen people on Monday.

"Today ... the crime was solved. The [state security service] KGB and police needed just one day ... to carry out a brilliant operation and detain the perpetrators," Reuters quoted Lukashenko as saying on Wednesday.

"We must look into statements made by political actors...Maybe these actors from the 'fifth column' will open their cards and point to the one who ordered (the attack)," he added.

The remarks came on a day that the ex-Soviet republic held mourning ceremonies for the victims of the April 11 metro blast in Minsk, which reportedly killed 12 people and wounded 150 others.

Chairman of the State Security Committee of Belarus Vadim Zaitsev said earlier that a man in his mid-20s was arrested and confessed to being involved in the bombing. He also stated that two other suspects have also confessed to their involvement in the subway attack.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian president said that the three suspects were also behind a bomb blast at a concert in Minsk in July 2008, which wounded about 50 people, and two other bombings in September 2005 that wounded more than 45 people in the city of Vitebsk.

"The detained criminals have confessed not only to carrying out the terrorist act in the Minsk metro. They are also responsible for the previous Independence Day and Vitebsk terrorist acts," Lukashenko noted.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned in the strongest terms the attack at the subway station, saying "any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable."