Police have suspect in North Ossetia blast case.

PYATIGORSK, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Police have a suspect in the
criminal case over the explosion on the border of North Ossetia and
Ingushetia on August 17, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told
reporters on Thursday.
"As for the blast in North Ossetia, we have a suspect, and police are
working with him," Nurgaliyev said in Pyatigorsk.
He chaired two conferences over the investigation into the terrorist
attack in Pyatigorsk and the blast in North Ossetia.
"The joint groups of investigators and detectives which included
personnel of the Investigations Committee were set up in the first minutes
after the commission of these crimes," Nurgaliyev said.
During the conferences he chaired, the investigators reported on
details of the probes.
"It is important to understand the cause and effect of both crimes and
learn who is behind them," the interior minister emphasized.
"They were high-profile crimes; people got hurt in both cases. Our
police officer from the Ivanovo region died in North Ossetia, and three
other police were injured," he reminded.
"The law-enforcement bodies will do everything to solve these crimes,
so that they never happen again in the territory of the North Caucasian
Federal District," Nurgaliyev stated.


.Thai court to decide on Bout's extradition to US.

BANGKOK, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Thailand's appeals court on Friday
will announce the final verdict on the extradition of Russian Viktor Bout
to the United States. The court will meet at 09:30, local time, (06:30,
Moscow time).
The businessman and his lawyers are quite optimistic. In an interview
to Itar-Tass ahead of the court hearing, Viktor Bout said he "is not
losing his fighting spirit for a moment, and hopes to return home as soon
as possible. I'm hoping for a just decision; there are no legal grounds to
revise the previous court ruling."
Viktor Bout was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 at the USA's
request. He was charged on a number of counts, including the attempts to
sell arms to a group of Colombian rebels.
The USA was unable to produce the evidence proving Bout's guilt. It
made references to newspaper articles and conclusions by several experts
without supporting the claims with hard evidence
In August 2009, the criminal court of the Kingdom fully acquitted the
businessman and turned down the US extradition request.
Despite the acquittal, Bout has spent 12 months in Bangkok's Klong
Prem prison, because the prosecutor objected to bail.
Bout believes he was framed in the case, becoming "a hostage of
politics."
"Hopefully, it will all end soon, and I'll return to Russia," he added.


.Aeroflot submits plans to purchase domestic aircraft.

MOSCOW, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Aeroflot-Russian Airlines has
submitted a plan to the government to purchase domestic aircraft.
Company officials confirmed to PRIME-TASS that they had forwarded the
relevant letter. Under the plan, the company will purchase more than 120
domestic aircraft in the period to 2020, including Sukhoi-Superjet-100,
An-148 and MS-21.
In mid-July, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Aeroflot
director general Vitaly Savelyev, at which he instructed him to work
through the issue to increase the share of domestic aircraft in overall
procurements.
Putin said then "you wish to dominant on the domestic market, but
don't want to buy domestic equipment. This won't do."
As of now, Aeroflot's fleet compares 114 aircraft, including six
Russian-made Il-96s.
Other aircraft have been imported. Aeroflot operates Boeing-767,
Airbus A320, and Airbus A330.
Aeroflot will begin to operate 22 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 22
Airbus A350 from 2016.
The company also has a contract for Sukhoi Superjet-100.


.Russian convicted in Cambodia for pedophilia, apologies to victims.

HANOI, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russian citizen Alexander Trofimov
convicted for pedophilia in Cambodia in November 2008, confessed to
debauchery of youths and apologized to his victims and their relatives. At
a hearing at the Phnom Penh appeals court, the judge read the statement
by the 42-year-old Russian businessman who pleaded guilty to two of the
three debauchery charges.
"I admit my guilt to two charges, but ask to exempt me from
responsibly for the third one. I wish to apologize to the whole Cambodian
people, the families of the children I raped, and ask the court to commute
my prison term to the minimal," the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported on
Thursday.
Trofimov, a director of a large construction firm, was arrested in
2007 on suspicion of debauchery of 19 minors. He was sentenced to 13 years
in prison.
A series of appeals and new court hearings extended his jail term to
17 years, as the investigators exposed new episodes in his crime since
2005.
The appeal court is expected to announce a ruling on Trofimov's case
on August 26. It is the largest pedophilia case in the history of local
justice.
The Phnom Penh Post newspaper noted that Russia had demanded
Trifonov's extradition to charge him with debauchery of minors in his
homeland.
-0-myz


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