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| 25.08.200611:17 (GMT) | | A total of 163 militants, a number that he described as "significant," in the North Caucasus have already used the right to amnesty, Nikolai Patrushev, Head of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee of Russia and Director of the Federal Security Service, told journalists today, according to Interfax news agency. "The militants are using this opportunity quite actively," Patrushev is quoted by the agency as saying and adding that the number of people who follow their example will continue to grow. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service also said militants were becoming more active in southern Russian republics neighboring Chechnya. Nikolai Patrushev attributed the change to successes scored by security forces against militants in Chechnya itself. He said that over the past seven months, militants carried out 18 "terrorist" acts in Ingushetia and 11 in North Ossetia, twice as many as in the same period of 2005. Earlier this year, Patrushev proposed an amnesty for all militants who laid down their arms by August 1. Chechen officials later proposed the offer be extended to January 1, 2007. | |
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