Dagestan suspects deny bombing

A group of three men arrested in connection with the land mine blast in Kaspiyisk, in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, have denied any involvement in the attack in which at least 40 people were killed.

The men were presented at a news conference organised by the interior ministry in the Dagestani capital, Makhachkala about 25 kilometres north of Kaspiyisk, following their arrest in St Petersburg two days ago.

Ministry officials said the men - two brothers, Artur and Zaur Mamayev, and Shamil Mamayev - were born in Makhachkala.

The suspects denied being involved in not only the Kaspiyisk attack, but also the explosions in Makhachkala in January in which seven soldiers were killed.

The Russian and Dagestani authorities accuse the suspects of links with what they describe as terrorist groups operating in Chechnya, and Georgia's Pankisi Gorge.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service