Interior Ministry to be established in Chechnya by late November

An interior affairs ministry is to be set up in Chechnya by late November 2002, Russian Interior Ministry Boris Gryzlov told journalists on Saturday at the solemn ceremony of opening a memorial in honor of the perished warriors of the 33rd separate brigade of interior troops task forces. In his words, no increase in the number of Interior Ministry grouping servicemen deployed in Chechnya is planned; vice versa, the troops will be reduced before this year's end. The stress is made on the creation of a Chechen interior ministry, to involve those living on the territory of the republic, the minister emphasized.

He noted that as of today, nearly 6,000 police officers in Chechnya are local residents, adding that permanent interior affairs bodies have been set up in most regions. The minister noted that all reserves made up of locals who earlier had something to do with the service in interior bodies and underwent training are exhausted; that's why the stake is made on new officers' training. The training centers are deployed both in Chechnya and in other RF constituent members. According to Mr Gryzlov, the training plan is to be fulfilled by the end of November; the Chechen Ministry of Interior Affairs will be organized following a respective decree by the Russian President.

The Interior Minister also emphasized that a Russian Security Council session made the decision to reform the Interior Ministry troops task forces. In his words, there will appear 10 detachments of task forces, two of which will start serving on Chechen territory in late November. The minister specified that task forces will be oriented to pinpoint events.