Russian Embassy Hit By Riga Bomb Blast

An anti-personnel mine exploded in front of the Russian Embassy in Latvia early Monday, adding to the already fraught relations between ethnic Russians and Latvians in the Baltic republic.


The Russian Foreign Ministry responded immediately, issuing a strongly-worded statement that urged Latvian authorities to stamp out what it called the wave of "anti-Russian hysteria" in Latvia.


No one was hurt in the explosion, which happened in the early hours of Monday morning in downtown Riga, Latvia's capital, though four diplomatic cars parked near the embassy building were damaged.


Latvian police said they believed the latest bombing was linked to a bomb attack on a Riga synagogue last week and warned that more terrorist acts might occur. As of noon Monday, all Latvia's police forces had been put on alert and a special coordination center has been set up to find the perpetrators.


Ethnic tensions in Latvia have been at breaking point since a march last month by Latvian veterans who served in the Nazi SS enraged Jewish groups and ethnic Russians.


Vita Norina, a spokeswoman for the Latvian Interior Ministry, said in a telephone interview that the Soviet-model MON-50 land mine went off at 1:50 a.m. in the Kronvald park across the street from the Russian embassy. It was loaded with plastic explosive equivalent to 300 grams of TNT and 450 pieces of shrapnel. The mine was placed in a concrete trash can, which was torn apart by the blast, sending fragments as far as 150 meters away.


"It is a very dangerous mine, human casualties could have occurred," said Norina. "It is a lucky coincidence that no one was in the proximity."


Norina said the explosion was clearly targeted at the Russian Embassy. The mine was not planted nearer because of police surveillance in the area, she said. The trash bin, situated about 30 meters from the embassy, was beyond the reach of close circuit video cameras.


Norina said investigators see a connection between the synagogue bombing and the embassy blast.


"They presume it was committed by the same group of people," she said. Among other versions, police are looking into the possibility that the blast was carried out by Russian provocateurs whose aim is to heighten tension between Russia and Latvia, Norina added.


In a separate incident, in the early hours of Saturday morning, vandals poured black paint over a monument to Holocaust victims in a Jewish cemetery at the Latvian port city of Liepaja, west of Riga. To many Latvian nationalists, the Jewish community is associated with the Russian-speaking minority.


The Riga government responded swiftly. Latvian Interior Minister Ziedonis Chevers came to the embassy at 3 a.m. and met with Russian Ambassador Alexander Udaltsov.


Later Monday, Prime Minister Guntars Krasts said the organizers of the explosion were intent on "destabilizing the situation, undermining Latvia's international prestige and harming its ties with its neighbors."


Also Monday, Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis attended a meeting of police officials. Vladimir Ivanov, press secretary at the Russian Embassy, said the ambassador was satisfied with the "prompt reaction" by Latvian police.


However, in its statement, the Russian foreign ministry accused Riga of letting the situation get out of hand.


"In Latvia, blasts ring out, monuments are defiled, fascists are raising their heads," the statement said. "An end should be put to this. We demand that the Latvian authorities take decisive measures and punish the culprits."


Latvia, which is lobbying for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, has been at pains to avoid an international row over the recent incidents.


Latvian President Ulmanis said Saturday in an interview with Riga's Diena newspaper that the SS march and synagogue bombing had badly damaged the state's image. Only recently, he said Latvia had the same chances as its neighbor, Estonia, to negotiate EU membership. "And now I am forced to hear that in two weeks Latvia has lost all that it gained," he said.