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Bodies removed from Russian sub

MOSCOW - The Russian Navy commander yesterday raised fresh doubts about whether divers will be deployed to try and recover the bodies of sailors lost in the sunken nuclear attack submarine Kursk.

Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov said in a formal statement that he will cancel the operation to recover the crew if conditions inside the submarine looks too hazardous. The mission to dive to the wrecked submarine is to begin shortly. A Norwegian floating derrick, the Regalia, is now making its way toward the scene of the Aug. 12 disaster and is expected to arrive there today.

President Vladimir Putin had ordered that an effort be made to recover the bodies, but top Russian officials have given conflicting signals in recent days about whether the mission will be fulfilled. Kuroyedov said the Navy felt an obligation to the memory of the 118 who were killed to try and make an effort.

But he added, in what was seen here as a strong hint that the mission might be called off. "We must also think about the lives of the people who will go underwater and work at a 100-meter depth in the complex conditions of the Barents Sea." The stricken vessel lays at the seabed at a depth of 354 feet.

The submarine suffered two explosions during a torpedo practice session. The explosions are said by Russian officials to have ripped through the first four of the submarine's 10 watertight compartments. Most of the crew, located in these forward compartments, was probably killed instantly.

Russian officials issued misleading statements in the early days after the disaster, at first saying the crew did not need a rescue and later suggesting that there might have been some survivors of the blast; they finally acknowledged that most if not all the crew died at the outset.

Since then, officials who have seen video tape of the wreck say they believe the inside of the compartments has been turned into a jagged tunnel of sharp edges, twisted metal and dangling pipes that may make it impossible to work under water. They said there is also a strong current where the vessel lies which looks "like a river" on video tapes.

Igor Dygalo, chief of the Navy press service, told Interfax yesterday, "First, a serious factor is weather. The conditions on the Barents Sea at this season of the year are rather difficult, and even at the moment, wind and waves are complicating the work of ships in this area." The second factor, he said, is what the divers see when they reach the sub and try to enter the hull.

"If first reports give a negative analysis and this analysis shows that the further work could be risky, the naval commander-in-chief, as the highest official in these sphere, will have the right to issue an order canceling the operation so as not to risk the lives of the divers," he said.

Mideast terrorist plans discovered

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials got wind of plans for terrorist attacks on targets in the Persian Gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar over the weekend and forces went on high alert, a senior defense official said yesterday. The targets included a school in Bahrain that American and other international children attend, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other targets included the U.S. embassies in Manama, the Bahrain capital, and Doha, the capital of Qatar, the official said.

- Compiled from Daily wire reports.