MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said Tuesday it will form a crisis center within the Foreign Ministry and open crisis headquarters in its embassies abroad to prevent threats to Russia's national interests.
The committee said in a statement that the decision was made "due to the increased number of terrorism and other manifestations in regard to Russian facilities, offices and citizens abroad."
Last year, a Russian Embassy employee was shot in Iraq in an attack on his car. Four others were abducted and later executed by an al-Qaeda linked group.
In the most recent incident, six Russians working for the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), controlled by Russian aluminum giant RUSAL, were abducted by gunmen who broke into their residential premises in the southeastern town of Ikot Abasi in early June, killing their Nigerian driver.
The captors have allegedly demanded a ransom of $480,000 for their release.
