An unexploded bomb was discovered near the entrance to Moscow’s central and largest synagogue, according to a report from Moscow.
The report, from the Union of Councils’ Moscow Bureau on Human Rights, said the bomb was discovered early Sunday morning near the entrance to the Choral Synagogue.
According to the Union of Councils, which also cited a report on the matter in the Moscow newspaper Moskovisky Komsomolets, the bomb was found at about 7 a.m. by an “individual on duty in the synagogue.”
The story was corroborated by the Chabad organization Lishkas Ezras Achim, which provides religious needs to the Jews of the former Soviet Union, and by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.
The bomb reportedly consisted of an unidentified explosive liquid in a can with a partially burned fuse.
The Union of Councils’ Moscow bureau reported that the police were called but did not arrive for two hours.
It said the unexploded device was taken away by technicians of the Federal Counterintel-ligence Service.
According to the Union of Councils, the newspaper Moskovisky Komsomolets reported that experts believe it was only luck that the bomb did not explode, since the type of fuse used usually will not extinguish even in water.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.