KHANKALA. July 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Interior Ministry has taken control of the regional headquarters for the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.
These functions were previously performed by the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Headquarters spokesman Colonel Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax that FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev and Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov introduced the newly-appointed regional headquarters commander, Yury Maltsev, at the main military base in Khankala on Tuesday.
Maltsev, who was recently Gryzlov's deputy, replaced Colonel Genera; Anatoly Yezhkov of the FSB.
Patrushev and Gryzlov told journalists that the regional headquarters' top priority in the short term is to ensure security and order for the October 5 presidential elections in Chechnya. They also predicted an early shift from sweeps to law enforcement operations in the republic.
They said the main goal of rooting out terrorism in Chechnya has been meet.