Christians Under Attack

Top Chechen rebels have tried without success to convince Hamas and Hezbollah to send fighters to the North Caucasus and might have had a hand in the killing of four Russian diplomats in Iraq in June, a senior Federal Security Service official said.

Warlords Shamil Basayev and Khattab "actively tried to convince" the leadership of Hamas, based in the Palestinian territories, and Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, to rotate fighters through the North Caucasus in exchange for military assistance from Chechen rebels, General Yury Sapunov, director of the Federal Security Service's international terrorism department, told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in comments published Friday.