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Russia, West combating terrorism jointly - Safonov
Russia has already joined efforts being made by its international partners to counter terrorism worldwide, Antoly Safonov, the Russian president's envoy on international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and cross-border organized crime, told Interfax.
Safonov is a member of a major Russian delegation taking part in the fourth Annual East-West Security Conference in Brussels.
"Cooperation is proceeding at a variety of levels: global, regional, multilateral, within the framework of special services, military agencies, and law enforcement services. We have already forwarded plenty of information to our partners that, among other issues, is related to the possibility of delivering strikes at al Qaeda's top players," he said.
However, what counts most is to ruin links within the terrorism system, Safonov said.
"When we speak about the three-tier system - global, regional and local, we do not mean that it is necessary to wage a fight on all of these fronts simultaneously. Rather, what we need to do is to hit on the flanks, to try to break the links and to stop local terrorism from growing into regional or global terrorism," the official said.
"The conflict in Chechnya was local at the beginning. Then it became a regional conflict, and eventually a part of global jihad," Safonov said.
"We must not allow al Qaeda's global ideology of terrorism to infect local conflicts in Chechnya, East Timor or other parts of the planet," he said.
Commenting on the situation in Chechnya, Safonov said that major steps should be taken in Chechnya’s economy and social sector in order to eradicate the roots of terrorism in the republic.
The official drew a comparison between Chechnya and Afghanistan, which served as platforms for the anti-terrorist fight at the beginning of the century. “The situation in Afghanistan is flawed because the socioeconomic component is lagging behind,” he said.
“Doubtlessly, the backbone of terrorism in Chechnya and the North Caucasus in general has been broken, but problems related to terrorism do, of course, remain there.
The disease has caused metastases. There is a great number of factors that feed extremism, including ideological support and sympathizers among the population. What happened there for the a 10-15 year period has left its scars,” Safonov said.
Chechnya needs a comprehensive revival, the official said, adding that the authorities have begun enjoying broader support among the population after they started to tackle social issues.
Acting Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told journalists on Tuesday that the republic “is the most peaceful region in Russia.”
“Crime rates are lower there than in other regions,” he said.
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