RUSSIA: Russia's president Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered his state security agents to hunt down the killers of four Russian diplomats abducted in Iraq and wipe them out, Interfax news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying.
"The president gave the order to Russian special services to take all measures for finding and eliminating the criminals who carried out the murder of Russian diplomats in Iraq," it quoted the Kremlin's press service as saying.
The head of the FSB state security service, Nikolai Patrushev, immediately pledged to see Mr Putin's order carried out.
"However much time and effort it requires, we will work to this end," he said.
The diplomats were seized in Baghdad four weeks ago and an al-Qaeda-led group posted video footage on the internet last Sunday showing the killing of three men it said were Russian hostages. Russia has acknowledged all four were killed.
Interfax said Mr Putin made his comments to visiting Saudi prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, governor of Riyadh.
Mr Putin gave no details of how such a search-and-destroy mission could be mounted in Iraq, where a US-led coalition, including British and Iraqi forces, are fighting attacks by al-Qaeda militants and other insurgents.
But he said Russia hoped all its friends would provide information identifying the killers.
Separately, the lower house of parliament approved a statement laying blame for the deaths of the Russian diplomats at the door of "occupying powers".
"The whole responsibility for the situation in Iraq, including guaranteeing the security of its citizens, and also foreign specialists, as before lies on the occupying powers. We are deeply convinced that they could have averted the tragedy that happened," it said.
Russia, along with France and Germany, refused to back the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, arguing that more time should be given to diplomatic ways of heading off the crisis.