CIS forms unit to fight terrorism

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, DEC. 1. Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have approved the establishment of an anti-terrorist centre to fight religious extremism and separatism.

The decision, initially taken by the Interior Ministers of the organisation last March, was ratified on Friday by CIS heads of state at a one-day summit in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, said the centre was unprecedented in world practice and would coordinate efforts to fight ``international terrorism'' chiefly in two regions - the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Russia is waging a second military campaign against Islamic separatists in Chechnya in the North Caucasus and is giving military assistance to ex-Soviet Central Asian states in fighting the scourge of Islamic extremism from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The CIS leaders have appointed General Boris Mylnikov of the Russian Federal Security Service to head the anti- terrorist centre.

The centre will have a staff of 60 and will be financed jointly by CIS states. A joint data bank on terrorists and their financial supporters has already been set up in Moscow.

In a separate meeting during the CIS summit, the Russian and Belarussian Presidents, Mr. Vladimir Putin, and Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, signed an accord on introducing a single currency for their two countries in keeping with last year's treaty on creating a Russian-Belarus union state.

Under the agreement, Belarus will switch over to using the Russian rouble as its currency from Jan. 1, 2005. Three years later, the two countries will establish a joint currency.

The Minsk summit was attended by 11 out of 12 CIS leaders.

The President of Turkmenistan, Mr. Saparmurad Niyazov, stayed out, saying he was not interested in the anti-terrorist centre directed against the Taliban, with which Turkmenistan maintains good relations.

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Section  : International
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