- HERZLIYA, Israel - While
rejecting U.S. and EU criticism of its anti-terrorism reforms, Russia plans
to adopt Israel's counter-insurgency methods in Moscow's war against Chechen
rebels. Russian officials said the government in Moscow has agreed to increase
security cooperation with Israel and focus on counter-insurgency. The officials
said the cooperation would include Israeli training and instruction on
a range of issues, including aviation security and civil defense.
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- "We are being helped by your expertise in the field
of aviation security," Vladimir Vasilyev, chairman of the Security
Committee of Russia's parliament, told Israeli reporters. Vasilyev and
other Russian officials said security cooperation was already taking place,
Middle East Newsline reported. They said teams from both countries were
arranging meetings in an effort meant to learn the lessons of the Chechen
takeover of a high school in North Ossetia in late August. Nearly 400 people
were killed in the hostage episode. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
in an interview with Reuters, backed liberal criticism in Russia by saying
the changes were "pulling back on some of the democratic reforms".
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- But Russia's foreign minister said Washington had no
right to impose its model of democracy on others. "First of all, the
processes that are under way in Russia are our internal affair," Sergei
Lavrov said. "And it is at least strange that, while talking about
a certain 'pulling back', as he (Powell) put it, on some of the democratic
reforms in the Russian Federation, he tried to assert yet one more time
the thought that democracy can only be copied from someone's model,"
Lavrov said. Lavrov met Israeli leaders last week and signed an accord
meant to pave the way for a joint effort against Islamic insurgency groups.
"I want to express my support that you're giving us to solve security
isues," Vasilyev told Israeli reporters at an international conference
in Herzliya, which ended on Tuesday. "We will also continue cooperation
in the field of protecting public places and will use Israel's experience.
To be smarter and tougher, we will have to prepare our citizens."
Russian officials said Moscow was also examining the Israeli model of a
civil guard, or auxiliary police, that can carry weapons and conduct searches.
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- They said this would require new legislation. Israel
and Russia also agreed to expand their intelligence exchange, particularly
in the area of Islamic insurgency movements, officials said. Officials
said Israel would soon send a delegation of intelligence analysts to Moscow.
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