Russia to create new counter-terror commission
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 17 February: 13.10 CET) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering the Kremlin to establish a national counter-terrorism committee to be headed by Federal Security Service (FSB) director Nikolai Patrushev, Russia news agencies reported.
The committee will be tasked with improving government regulation of the fight against terrorism and will include a new regional counter-terrorism commission to coordinate efforts with federal authorities.
The decree, announced on Thursday, puts the FSB at the head of counter-terrorism operations in crisis situation. Previously, the FSB had shared these tasks with the Interior Ministry, which has until now commanded regional rapid-response forces, the Moscow Times English-language daily reported.
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, is now preparing the second reading of a revised counter-terrorism bill, and the Thursday decree will be implemented once that law is passed, according to the daily.
In an interview with Russia’s Interfax news agency, Patrushev said the FSB would “bear the responsibility for preventing terrorism, fighting terrorism, and liquidating the consequences of terrorism”, as well as “influence the efficiency of our actions and the speed of decision-making”.
According to the Moscow Times, the new National Anti-Terrorism Committee will also include representatives from the interior, defense, and justice ministries, the Foreign Intelligence and Federal Guard services, the prosecutor’s office, the presidential administration, and the upper and lower houses of parliament.
The revised counter-terrorism law and the decree to create the new commission come in the wake of the September 2004 hostage-taking raid on a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in which more than 330 people were killed, more than half of them children. The security services response to the crisis has been severely criticized and there was a clear lack of chain-of-command organization.
“The Russian president decided to build a clear vertical [power structure] in order to carry out specific activities to prevent, counter and mitigate the consequences of terrorist attacks,” Patrushev told Interfax.
“It is for the first time that all branches of power will coordinate their anti-terrorist activity within the framework of a single structure,” he said.
The committee will be tasked with improving government regulation of the fight against terrorism and will include a new regional counter-terrorism commission to coordinate efforts with federal authorities.
The decree, announced on Thursday, puts the FSB at the head of counter-terrorism operations in crisis situation. Previously, the FSB had shared these tasks with the Interior Ministry, which has until now commanded regional rapid-response forces, the Moscow Times English-language daily reported.
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, is now preparing the second reading of a revised counter-terrorism bill, and the Thursday decree will be implemented once that law is passed, according to the daily.
In an interview with Russia’s Interfax news agency, Patrushev said the FSB would “bear the responsibility for preventing terrorism, fighting terrorism, and liquidating the consequences of terrorism”, as well as “influence the efficiency of our actions and the speed of decision-making”.
According to the Moscow Times, the new National Anti-Terrorism Committee will also include representatives from the interior, defense, and justice ministries, the Foreign Intelligence and Federal Guard services, the prosecutor’s office, the presidential administration, and the upper and lower houses of parliament.
The revised counter-terrorism law and the decree to create the new commission come in the wake of the September 2004 hostage-taking raid on a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, in which more than 330 people were killed, more than half of them children. The security services response to the crisis has been severely criticized and there was a clear lack of chain-of-command organization.
“The Russian president decided to build a clear vertical [power structure] in order to carry out specific activities to prevent, counter and mitigate the consequences of terrorist attacks,” Patrushev told Interfax.
“It is for the first time that all branches of power will coordinate their anti-terrorist activity within the framework of a single structure,” he said.
posted by Marko at 2/17/2006 07:07:00 AM
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