Putin transfers Chechen war control to secret police

Putin transfers Chechen war control to secret police
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW, JAN 23: Saying it was time to change strategy, President Vladimir Putin transferred control of Russia's war against persistent rebels in Chechnya from the military to the country's main anti-terrorism agency. The new emphasis will be on commando operations to hunt down small rebel bands and their leaders, while local police seek to maintain order, Kremlin officials said on Monday. Russian troops have struggled to re-establish Moscow's control over the rebel region. Independence fighters had kicked out Russian forces in a 1994-96 war, but Federal troops went back in September, 1999. They occupied most of Chechnya and put an end to large-scale rebel operations. But small groups of determined fighters inflict almost daily casualties with ambushes and mines - including an attack on Sunday in which 14 soldiers had reportedly died. Putin said the transfer of command to the Federal Security Service - successor to the Soviet-era KGB - will not mean less pressure on the rebels or the end of militaryoperations. "This doesn't mean the counter-terrorist operation will end," Putin said on ORT Television news. "It will continue no less intensively." Putin's decree gave FSB head Nikolai Patrushev full authority over the war effort. Patrushev's appointment follows a trend of promotions for current and former FSB personnel under Putin, himself a former KGB agent. Putin also announced that forces in the region will be reduced as earlier promised, but did not say when or by how much.