PUTIN INSTRUCTS LAW ENFORCERS

MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - On June 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that law-enforcement and security structures submit specific proposals on counteracting terrorism within a week. After the deadline, Justice Minister Yuri Chaika reported on how the task had been fulfilled. According to him, the counter-terrorist bill that is currently being prepared will take into account all the initiatives of law-enforcement bodies, Gazeta writes. An important achievement, the minister believes, is that the document for the first time identifies the services directly responsible for counteracting terrorism. He also pointed out that the bill's terminology had been brought into line with international practice.

However, the bill is still being worked on and neither its authors nor deputies can say when it will be submitted to the State Duma, Gazeta writes.

It seems that the tough tone adopted by President Putin when he talked to law-enforcement representatives after Chechen militants had attacked Nazran, Ingushetia's largest city, on June 22 made them hurry with their counter-terrorism proposals. Chaika reported on the work of his ministry and the law-enforcement agencies. They have prepared a fundamentally new bill on counteracting terrorism. "The document gives our law-enforcement bodies a perfect weapon - the legislative base," he pointed out. Also, "it expands the conceptual content in compliance with our international commitments in the fight against terrorism," the minister emphasized.

Moreover, the bill will specify the notion "terrorism" (which is now defined by the Russian Criminal Code) and introduce new terms, "an act of terrorism" and "a counter-terrorist operation". Moreover, it will for the first time specify the bodies responsible for counteracting terrorism, the newspaper reports.