Russian Duma passes sweeping anti-terrorism legislation

["Gary Funck" <gary () intrepid com>]

http://tinyurl.com/fcyx4

Russian Duma passes sweeping anti-terrorism legislation
Sun Feb 26, 4:19 AM ET

Russia's lower house of parliament has approved a sweeping new
anti-terrorism law defining terms under which the military may shoot down
hijacked passenger planes, strike at suspected terrorist targets and
intercept communications for security reasons.

The law entitled On Counter-terrorist Action was approved in a final reading
with 423 votes in favour, one against and eight abstensions.

It will be passed to the upper house of parliament and then President
Vladimir Putin for final approval -- both of which are considered a
formality.

"This law is very much needed ... It defines what terrorism is. Without it,
it was difficult to carry out the struggle against terrorism by lawful
means," said a deputy with the pro-Kremlin United Russian Party, Nikolai
Kovalyov.

The head of the Duma lower house's legislation committee, Pavel
Krasheninnikov, Sunday described the law as "strict".

"In working out the law we studied the sad experience of terror acts in
Madrid, the United States, Beslan and elsewhere," Krasheninnikov told
journalists.

The lengthy text approved Sunday sets out a range of procedures for
anti-terrorist operations and also covers operations outside Russian
territory.

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse


_______________________________________________
Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.