New antiterrorism law being prepared

The Justice Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) were preparing a draft law "On Countering Terrorism," Vladimir Vasilyev, the chairman of the State Duma security committee, told journalists Monday.

He noted that the draft law would be a new law because in his opinion many changes needed to be made. "We will look for aspects of the document [old law] that need to be changed and aspects that are obsolete," he said.

The deputy noted that at today's special session of committee, which representatives of the security agencies attended, formulation of such a bill was discussed. "The tragedy in Ingushetia has highlighted all of the deficiencies, including the absence of sufficient legislation to fight terrorism in Russia," he said.

He said that the deputies and the representatives of the security agencies have agreed that "if we do not approve the bill in the first reading soon, the chances that it will be put into force this year as opposed to next year are poor."

Mr. Vasilyev did not say who would submit the draft to the State Duma or what new norms would be included in it. "All of these issues are currently being discussed," he said.