Russian Internal Affairs Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev during a class on tactics for hostage rescue held for special divisions of the police force
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
|
 |
Rashid Nurgaliyev Gets Chechnya Under Control
// Security
Yesterday Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) chief Rashid Nurgaliyev announced the end of counterterrorism operations in the North Caucasus. The Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSh), which was created specially to manage these operations, was dissolved. However, in its place operational headquarters headed by Russian MVD officials were created in each of the regional republics to combat the remnants of rebel units. The largest operational headquarters will operate in Chechnya under the command of Nurgaliyev himself, ensuring that even after the withdrawal of troops from the republic, the Chechen government will not gain control of the armed forces in the region.
Yesterday in Grozny, where he had come on an inspection tour, Russian MVD chief Rashid Nurgaliyev announced the dissolution of the North Caucasus Regional Operational Headquarters (ROSh) and the creation of individual headquarters in each of the administrative regions of the southern federal district of Russia. The minister explained that the decision had been made as part of the implementation of a directive from Russian president Vladimir Putin issued on August 8, 2006. In the directive, the president instructed military leaders to implement proposals for the gradual withdrawal, between 2007 and 2008, from Chechnya of units from the Russian Ministry of Defense and the MVD that had been temporarily located in the region. In connection with the significant reduction in troops stationed in Chechnya, changes were proposed for the system that manages the military structures that will remain in the republic on a permanent basis. These changes were also announced yesterday in Grozny.
Vasily Panchenkov, chief of the press service for the MVD's Internal Troop Command, told Kommersant that the dismantling of ROSh is linked to the fact that, after the elimination of rebel leaders such as Shamil Basayev, the situation in the North Caucasus has significantly improved. "The leadership of the rebel underground in the region has been practically destroyed, leaving behind only uncoordinated groups that are being dealt with successfully by local forces," said Panchenkov. He named Chechnya, whose leadership completely controls the situation in the republic, as an example: "Thanks to the activities of President Alu Alkhanov, as well as the activities of Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, the strategical situation in the republic now hardly differs from the situation in other regions of Russia."
Another important reason for the dismantling of ROSh, according to Panchenkov, is the creation of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAK). "After the creation of NAK, which will deal with the task of countering terrorism on a country-wide basis, the necessity of maintaining parallel regional structures disappeared," said Panchenkov. In addition, as the spokesman for the Internal Troop Command explained, the mandate of the operational headquarters established in Chechnya to replace ROSh (which will be the most powerful such headquarters in the North Caucasus) will not be restricted to the republic itself: "If, for example, something happens in neighboring Dagestan, then, of course, the armed forces that are under the command of the headquarters will not just sit idly by," he said.
In fact, after the dissolution of ROSh, the coalition of troops and armed forces in the North Caucasus region will be preserved, and this military coalition will be subordinate to the operational headquarters that is being established in Chechnya. The reorganization has also affected the antiterrorism structure in the other republics of the North Caucasus. The continuously active operational administration groups (GrOU) attached to the antiterrorism commissions of the districts of the southern federal region have been turned into groups that are attached to the operational headquarters in each of the districts of the Russian Federation that are part of the southern federal region. The core of this reorganization is the removal of the GrOU from the control of local authorities. The leaders of the republics, who formerly headed the regional antiterrorism commissions, are now members of the operational headquarters and are under the control of Russian MVD officials. As such, the liquidation of ROSh only formally testifies to the completion of counterterrorism operations – in actuality, the only thing that has changed is the way the operations are carried out.
In Chechnya, great things are expected from the reorganization. "In the last year or two, the situation in the republic has fundamentally changed," said chief of the Chechen Department of Security Magomed Mamakayev, who emphasized that the changes have come about thanks to the activities of the local police. The Chechen official expressed regret that the question of ensuring security in the republic will remain in federal hands after the reorganization: the head of the now-defunct ROSh, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arkady Yedelev, was named chief of the operational headquarters in Chechnya, while Rashid Nurgaliyev will retain general control over the activities of the "Chechen" headquarters.
"In Moscow, they clearly think that the time has not yet come to entrust the republic completely to local authorities," lamented Mamakayev. His sentiment was echoed by the spokesman of the Internal Troop Command: "Of course, the situation in the republic has improved, but it is still too soon to give responsibility for regional security to local authorities," said Panchekov.
Musa Muradov
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 22, 2006
|
|
|
