MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax-AVN) - All attempts international terrorist make to influence the situation in the North Caucasus are doomed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
"Terrorists, who try today to inflame the situation in the North Caucasus, have no chance," Putin said replying a question from a Dagestani resident within the framework a televised question-and-answer session on Thursday.
The situation in the North Caucasus "is far from being successful" today, the president said.
However, "we all understand that the situation changed drastically in 1999," Putin said.
Asked when order will finally be restored in the North Caucasus, Putin said that "much depends on the attention of the federal center to certain issues, primarily social ones. [On the other hand] many things are initiated from abroad, the so-called international terrorist centers," the president said.
"We will beef up federal effort" in this regard, the president said, pointing out that the National Antiterrorist Committee has been established.
This committee "performs far better that the set of federal agencies in mid-1990s," Putin said.
"A gradual reduction in the number of terrorist attacks is proof for this. Roughly 250 were committed in 2005, slightly more than 100, about 130, [terror acts] were committed in 2006, while 25 were registered in eight months of 2007. These are real, not phony, figures," Putin said.