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CIS COUNTRIES COMBATING TERRORISM

RIA Novosti

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Vyacheslav Lashkul).

The Council of Interior Ministers of CIS Member Countries has approved a plan of comprehensive measures to combat terrorism in 2005. This cooperation has been underway for several years, but how efficient is it and what are its priorities? RIA Novosti asked Lieutenant General of the Police Alexander Bokov, the director of the Bureau for the Coordination of the Fight against Organized Crime and Terrorism in the CIS, to answer these questions.

- Last year over 500 requests, replies and operative documents passed via Interpol channels between Russia and CIS law enforcement agencies, which allowed many terrorist crimes to be solved. For example, a leader of the international extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, who had been put on the international wanted list by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was arrested as part of the joint operational and preventive measures conducted in Operation Typhoon. Thanks to cooperation with the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan, a certain Tagayev, an active member of Chechen bandit formations, wanted for his involvement in gangster activities, terrorism and attempting to kill law enforcers, was extradited to Russia. Last year, the Russian Interior Ministry searched for over a hundred North Caucasian terrorists. With the assistance of other CIS interior ministries, the whereabouts of 30 bandits was established. Seventeen of them were arrested, while another 13 were killed putting up armed resistance when officers tried to apprehend them. The comprehensive operations Nomads, Search and Channel are regularly held in territories adjoining Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

An efficient exchange of information between the CIS interior ministries has largely contributed to the success of coordinated activities. The possibilities for obtaining data expanded after we switched to the automated system of the Russian Federal Integrated Information Pool, which contains the details of figures in the criminal world. Our bureau alone has a special bank with almost 2,500 entries on terrorists, their groups and organizations. This information is put to great use and is constantly replenished.

Other priority tasks include joint work to close channels of terrorist financing. In particular, the activity of an organized crime group of Dagestan residents, who had hidden funds destined for bandit formations in the North Caucasus in a secret compartment in their car, was ended owing to special operations conducted with Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry. Over a kilogram of gold was confiscated from the criminals.

Experts working for Russia's law enforcement agencies believe that a considerable part of the funds that finance terrorist organizations comes from the profits of ethnic criminal groups. The lion's share of these criminal assets comes from the illegal drug trade. We know very well just how important it is to coordinate the actions of CIS interior ministries in this field. Efforts need to be particularly consolidated in this case and we achieved this.

Another problem is under our constant control. Heightened tensions in the CIS countries mean that efforts have to be taken to prevent members of terrorist groups, who often disguise themselves as refugees, seasonal workers and so on, from infiltrating Russia.

An important point is that as a result of the measures taken by the Russian Federal Migration Service, 314 foreign criminals on the wanted list have been arrested.