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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russian security chief sez terrorism threatens the existence of the state |
| 2005-12-04 |
| Russia's domestic security chief has warned that terrorism threatens the very existence of the state. Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev said Russia's terrorist problems had grown. He said coordinated efforts between the government, security agencies, the media and society were essential to defeat them. "We need to exterminate the cause of this disease and its breeding ground," Patrushev said. "Campaigns to promote terrorist and radical ideas will continue to achieve their goals in areas where unemployment rates are high and where people cannot live and work normally. Bridging this gap and improving the socio-economic situation in the Caucasus will cut the ground from under terrorists' feet. It should become a nationwide goal." Patrushev told the Interfax news agency in an interview that strenuous efforts should be made to counter attempts "to justify terrorism by religious doctrines." He said the state had to take measures to prevent the spread of "radical religious ideas in general, especially among the young population of the North Caucasus region. "In a number of regions, particularly the North Caucasus, these problems have already started to pose a threat to Russia's national security," he said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |