Moldova Does Not Rule Al Qaeda out of Grenade Attack

The Moldova authorities continue to call the Wednesday explosion in the capital Chisinau a terrorist act while Interior Minister, Victor Catan, says it could be masterminded by Al Qaeda.

On Thursday Catan informed about phone threats that were made to the office of Prime Minister, Vlad Filat, at the time of the explosion. An unidentified male had warned he was planning to oust the cabinet by force. On Wednesday, before the explosion, another unidentified man busted in the office of the Chief Prosecutor in Chisinau, threatening to blow up a grenade. The Chief Prosecutor, however, rejected speculations that the Wednesday incident is connected to the explosion.

Catan says the threatening phone call might have come from abroad, but failed to offer a sound explanation as of why Bin Laden’s terrorists would plan an attack on Moldova.

The Interior Minister further said the caller had demanded that the new cabinet gives up their current and future reforms, adding the explosion had been a follow-up of the threats.

Local media, however, say the grenade is Russian made and comes from Russia’s military storage facilities.

A man confessed Thursday saying he blew up the grenade because he was upset the authorities denied reconsidering his son’s 7-year jail term.

Some Russian media speculate the explosion was due to a pyrotechnic package left on the central square, something the Chisinau Mayor also believes is a plausible version.

The Deputy Interior Minister, on his part, voices suspicions that it had been a powerful explosive device used for military training.

The motives behind the blast remain unclear. The only thing the Interior Ministry is stating with certainty is that it was a premeditated act. The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, however, appealed to not politicize the situation, saying it could be a misunderstanding or reckless youth activities.

On Wednesday, an explosion injured 36 people on the central square of the Moldovan capital Chisinau during a concert to celebrate the City Day.

The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported at the time that the explosive was a ball grenade RG-42. Most of the people had minor wounds, which is the result of the fact that the grenade did not explode in full force, according to experts.