Woman bomber was Pak terrorist's wife: Russia

Moscow: The 28-year old IT teacher Maryam Sharipova, one of the two suicide bombers who blew herself up at a Moscow Metro station was the wife of terrorist leader Magomedali Vagapov from the restive Daghestan region trained in Pakistan, Russia's top anti-terror agency said today.

"According to information we have, she was wife of the Magomedali Vagapov, whose gang was active in Daghestan," the operational staff of National Anti-terrorism Centre (NAC) said. Vagapov was trained in Pakistan, it added.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had pointed a finger at Pakistan saying Moscow metro attack could be traced back to its territory.

The modest IT teacher in her village school was identified as the second suicide bomber responsible for the attack on Lubyanka metro station in Moscow on March 29.

Russian investigators had earlier identified the other bomber as Dzhanet Abdurakhmanova, the 17-year-old widow of a Muslim militant slain by government forces.

Earlier yesterday the "Novoya Gazeta" had published an interview with Daghestani, who had recognised his daughter by photo of her head sent by someone on his mobile phone.

Maryam was born in 1982 in Balakhan, a village in the Untsukul region of Dagestan. Her parents were both teachers at the local school. She studied Math and Psychology and graduated with distinction in 2005, before returning to Balakhan to teach computer science at the local school.

"We still can't believe it. We can't even work out what she was doing in Moscow," said Magomedov.

"She was devout, but she never expressed any radical opinions. She always lived at home; we always knew what she was up to."

On March 4, the Russian security services informed Magomedov that his daughter was married to the terrorist leader Magomedali Vagabov.

"I asked my daughter if it was true but she said she didn't have any connections with the underground resistance and would never marry without my consent," her father had told Novaya Gazeta'.

The family was already under police observation in connection with one of Mariyam's brothers.In May 2008, Ilyas Sharipov was arrested on suspicion of possessing grenades, then later for abduction and illegally producing arms.

The two March 29 bombings killed 40 people and wounded 121 during the morning rush hour. Deputy Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Vyacheslav Belokrenitsky told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the leadership of radical religious underground groups was located in the mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.