国际英语新闻：Russian president vows to punish those behind deadly blast in North Ossetia

MOSCOW. Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday the state would do all it can to find and destroy those responsible for the deadly car bomb attack that killed 15 people in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia.

GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS

Medvedev asked North Ossetia leader Taimuraz Mamsurov to tell the people of the republic that the Russian people share their grief.

"I would like you, on behalf of the Russian leadership, to convey our sympathy and tell them that we will do all we can to catch these bastards, as you call them, who have committed a terror attack, a barbaric terror attack, against ordinary people. We will do all we can to find and punish them in accordance with the laws of our country, and we will destroy them if they offer resistance or in other circumstances," Medvedev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

The government has decided to give victims of the attack compensation, with 1 million rubles (about 33,000 U.S. dollars) for each family who lost members in the explosion.

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin labeled those behind the attack as "soulless" and appealed for a "common duty" to fight them.

"The crimes like the one that was committed in the North Caucasus today are aimed at sowing enmity between our citizens. We have no right to allow this," Putin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Putin noted the crime was committed on a holy day for Muslims - Uraza Bairam - which is traditionally associated with peace and accord.

He expressed condolences to the families of the dead and those injured, saying he was sure Russia's Muslims would make a decisive contribution to combating extremism.