KALININGRAD, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - The Republican Interior Ministry should gradually take control over crime fight in Chechnya, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said.
He attended a session of the Russian State Council in Kaliningrad (the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea).
"The republican law enforcement bodies and attached federal departments should gradually take control over public security and crime fight in Chechnya," Alkhanov said.
However, "federal authorities should conduct the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya for a year at least," he added. "The role of the local law enforcement bodies should be increased."
The republican forces have already partially assumed law enforcement functions in Chechnya, the president said.
The unit of the Russian Defense Ministry in Chechnya is being reduced. "All garrisons in mountainous regions have already been handed to the Interior Ministry," Alkhanov said.
