Police named first suspect in Domodedovo attack

January 27, 2011 - 10:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Police have named the first suspect behind the deadly terrorist attack on Moscow's Domodedovo Airport as a Russian resident of the southern Stavropol region, Kommersant daily said.

The suspect, whose surname was revealed as Razdobudko, was allegedly a member of the Nogai Jamaat terrorist group, which was disbanded in October 2010, the paper said.

Stavropol region is one of the more peaceful areas of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, although it shares a border with the republic of Dagestan, where terrorist attacks are common.

Police say Razdobudko could be one of the organizers or even a perpetrator of Monday's attack, which killed 35 people in the arrivals zone of Russia's biggest airport and injured over a hundred.

There has been no official confirmation of the information.

"He [Razdobudko] is by no means the only person being investigated for taking part in the terrorist attack, so we should not jump to any conclusions," a police source close to the investigation told the paper.

The source said DNA and other tests were still being carried out to establish the identity of the suicide bomber.

No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, which comes less than 12 months after two female suicide bombers from the volatile North Caucasus struck the Moscow metro, killing dozens.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Jan. 26 that preliminary information showed the Domodedovo blast was not linked to Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, RIA Novosti reported.