RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT BECOMES DEPUTY EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION

BEIJING, JANUARY 15 (RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT SERGEI ZELENTSOV) - Russian diplomat Vladimir Zakharov was appointed as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This decision was adopted by an extraordinary session of the Council of national Foreign Ministers.

Talking to RIA Novosti, Zakharov noted that the Secretariat's short-term plans stipulated preparations for a session of the regional anti-terrorist structure, as well as a session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Council of Foreign Ministers, slotted for April-May 2004.

The Secretariat will be dealing with the following three top-priority aspects, i.e. political, economic and anti-terrorist spheres, Zakharov added.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Secretariat will have 30 people, he added.

The number of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's national officials will be directly proportional to specific contributions to this organization's budget, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov noted.

Russia, which accounts for 24 percent of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's budget, will thus have seven delegates.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization comprises six countries, i.e. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.