VIENNA, November 8 (RIA Novosti, Taras Lariokhin) - A total of 60 Islamic extremist organizations, about 100 firms operating outside Russia, and 10 banking groups finance terrorism in Russia, an official of the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in the Austrian capital Tuesday.
Speaking at a panel discussion, International Terrorism: A View from Russia, FSB Deputy Spokesman Nikolai Zakharov said transnational terrorism had become a "cynical political business."
"The FSB has information on approximately 200 foreign nationals involved in terrorist activities in Russia," Zakharov said, adding that the statistics were from the early 1990s and some of those on the list had since been killed or jailed.
"Recent events graphically show that no nation, however strong it may be financially or socially, is immune to manifestations of terrorism on its territory."
Fellow panelist Mikhail Troyansky, deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stressed the importance of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, which he described as a "mobile hydra with great regeneration capabilities."
"The fight against international terrorism calls for close international cooperation, in which Russia engages both through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy," Troyansky said.
Major General Vladimir Kulishov, first deputy of the FSB's Anti-Terrorism Department, said the special services were "only one component" in the fight against terrorism. "Measures of an international nature, state-level measures, are required here," he said.
Kulishov identified what he considers the three top priorities in the fight against global terrorism: obtaining intelligence, disrupting terrorism financing, and curbing the illicit trade of explosives and ammunition used in terrorist activities.
Tuesday's panel discussion on terrorism brought together interior and foreign ministry officials from Russia and Austria, as well as members of the media.
