MOSCOW — Russia’s parliament on Friday gave preliminary approval to a law creating color-coded terrorist threat alerts, a measure rushed forward in the wake of the Moscow airport bombing that left 35 dead and raised questions about the country’s ability to handle attacks.
The proposal is modeled on the U.S. system instituted after 9/11. Washington this week announced that its system would be abandoned by the end of April and replaced with a new plan to notify specific people about specific threats. Critics had complained the general color alerts were unhelpful.
Russia’s State Duma, or lower house, unanimously approved the bill Friday in the first of three required readings.
Russia has not specified how its three-level codes would work. But the push to pass the legislation underlines Russia’s growing anxiety about its international security image as it tries to cope with attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents from the restive Caucasus region.
The measure was on the State Duma’s agenda for February, but the vote was rushed forward after the bombing at Domodedovo Airport, Russia’s busiest.
No claim of responsibility for the bombing has been made. Officials have not publicly identified any suspects. But media reports say investigators are focusing on Chechen insurgents from the Caucasus region. Chechen rebels have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks over the years, including ones against the Moscow subway system and suicide bombings of two planes that took off from Domodedovo in 2004.
Monday’s explosion at Domodedovo tore through the meeting area for international arrivals. About 180 people were injured, 129 of whom remained hospitalized Friday, according to the Health Ministry.
Authorities have not released an account of how the bombing took place.
The Interfax news agency Friday cited an unidentified law enforcement source as saying that surveillance video showed an unaccompanied male suspected suicide bomber, clad in a black jacket and baseball cap, standing in the area for about 15 minutes before the blast.
Media have shown photos of a severed head believed to be that of the bomber and say the head has been sent to a forensic laboratory for DNA analysis.
In recent years, the Islamic insurgency that started in Chechnya has spread to adjacent parts of the Russian Caucasus, notably to Dagestan, where shootings, bombings and police operations against rebels occur almost daily.
