In a statement posted on 19 May on kavkazcenter.com, field commander Shamil Basaev claimed responsibility for the 12 May car-bomb attack in Znamenskoe in northern Chechnya and the suicide bombing two days later in Gudermes Raion. Deputy Prosecutor-General Fridinskii declined to comment on Basaev\'s claim, noting that no evidence is yet available to substantiate it. In February, Basaev likewise claimed responsibility for a car-bomb attack that seriously damaged the Chechen government building in Grozny. Meanwhile, in a written statement to Reuters, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov denied responsibility for last week\'s bombings, saying he is convinced the perpetrators were acting on orders from Russia\'s special forces with the explicit aim of discrediting the Chechen resistance forces he commands. (RFE/RL)