‘Retribution inevitable’ for terror attack, vows Putin

MOSCOW: Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin vowed “retribution is inevitable’ ’ for the suicide bombing that killed 35 people at Russia’s busiest airport. Putin has built much of his reputation on harsh statements, but hedid not elaborate on what kind of retribution he had planned or against whom inhis comments on Tuesday carried by Russian news agencies. Putin roseto power largely on his tough-against-terror image, including a famous vow thatChechen rebels would be hunted down and killed “in the outhouse” .But despite launching the second Russia-Chechnya war and pushing harsh againstsuspected rebels, he was unable to wipe out the Chechen insurgency during his2000-2008 presidency. Meanwhile, enraged bloggers slammed the authorities, saying they were to blame for the tragedy. Some bloggers even alleged the authorities staged the airport blast to bolster their support early in a crucial year ahead of 2012 presidential elections. “Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Of course we will elect you for a new term, just don’t blow us up any more, please!” blogger KorabelReal addressed Putin on his Twitter account. “This was an ordinary start to apre-election year,” wrote Kermlin-Russia , one of Russia’s mostpopular Twitter blogs kept in first-person voice as parody on Medvedev’sTwitter KremlinRussia