MOSCOW. Sept 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Security Council Secretary, Igor Ivanov, said that although the United States has tightened its security regulations following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the country is not fully immune to the terrorist threat.
"It is hardly possible to think that the United States has fully protected itself from this threat," Ivanov told a news conference in the Interfax main office in Moscow on Wednesday.
"There is no island of stability in the world today where one can say that you are safely protected from the terrorist threat," he said.
"The problem of terrorism did not begin on September 11 (2001 - Interfax), but after September 11, many of those whom we tried to convince that terrorism is a global threat have realized this threat," Ivanov said.
At the same time, he said that measures the U.S. administration has been taking since the September 11, 2001 attacks have helped make the United States a much more secure place.
The problem of terrorism has "both internal and external factors," he said.
In the North Caucasus and the Caucasus in general, "terrorists and various criminal organizations are taking advantage of the socioeconomic situation to meet their goals," Ivanov said.
"Our task involves, among other aspects, settling socioeconomic issues and education problems, as well as cutting the ground from under the feet of those who are trying to use individual factors in their interests," he said.