KALININGRAD. Nov 15 (Interfax-Northwest) - Director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Patrushev said the special services will continue to work towards neutralizing terrorists in Russia, first of all in Chechnya.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaliningrad on Friday, Patrushev said the special services have long been taking measures to neutralize leaders of terrorist organizations in Chechnya. "There are good results. But at the same time, this work has not yet been finished," the FSB director said, adding that this will not mean beefing-up the law enforcement and security structures in the North Caucasus. "The neutralization work will be of a precisely targeted nature, by particular addresses and names, but it will be efficient," he said.
Commenting on the recent act of terrorism at a Moscow theater, Patrushev noted, "We clearly state that both Maskhadov and Basayev have a direct relation to the terrorist action in Moscow. Our partners abroad were trying to treat Maskhadov other than as a terrorist, and this never suited us. Now there are no doubts abroad that Maskhadov supported the act of terrorism in Moscow," Patrushev said.
"The world community was persuaded of this, in particular, by statements by world terrorist leader bin Laden. Intelligence information that we handed over to our partners has been fully confirmed as regards Russian terrorists," he said.
Russian special services will take the toughest possible stance on terrorist manifestations. "Law and order forces will be neutralizing unlawful activity constantly and efficiently. Moreover, this concerns not only Maskhadov and Basayev, but also other international terrorists, who are either in Russia or abroad."
Recalling that the Russian Prosecutor General's Office recently demanded that Denmark extradite Maskhadov's emissary Akhmed Zakayev, Patrushev noted, "But, in addition to this person, special services will work actively and persistently."
Patrushev said he hopes foreign special services will provide tangible support to Russia in this work.