Chechen Administration: Fight Against Terrorists in The Republic Must Be Headed By a Chechen Ministry

The head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, has come out for transferring the command of the anti-terrorist operation in the republic, which is now carried out by the Russian Federal Security Service, to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In a RIA Novosti interview, Akhmad Kadyrov confirmed that after a short lull that followed the referendum on the Chechen Constitution, which took place on March 23rd, kidnappings of people have again become frequent. In such cases kidnappers often use armoured cars and uniforms of Russian servicemen, and these facts "arouse questions" among the population, underscored the head of the Chechen administration.

If the command of the anti-terrorist operation is transferred to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, then "we shall know who kidnap people," said Kadyrov. According to him, the Chechen militia consists now of 12,000 men and is a strong force." Russian servicemen should be attracted to the fight against bandits only "if necessary," believes the head of the Chechen administration.