Russian security officials suspect that the Chechens who seized a Moscow theatre in October 2002 had wealthy Arab sponsors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and have sought Washington's support in finding the financiers.
Senior officials say they have traced a series of telephone calls from the gunmen to their "sponsors" in the Gulf.
During one call made to an unspecified Gulf state a financier asked for a video of scenes inside the theater, and was told it could be made for a $1m fee."Several long telephone conversations were intercepted to Saudi Arabia, to the Emirates, and to Qatar.
"We can say for sure that the hostage-taking was financed from abroad, and the terrorists maintained permanent contact with their sponsors."
It is well established that the chief financier of extremist militant groups for the past 3 decades, including Al Qaeda, are in fact Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
So the question is was the Boston Marathon bombing just another terrorist event with a Saudi connection?
