Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has issued a decree, incorporating the deputy prime minister, the presidential envoy in the North Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) and the defense minister into the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NCTC), Interfax reports, citing the Kremlin Web site.
Khloponin is currently the vice-premier and the presidential envoy in the North Caucasus Federal District, while Anatoly Serdyukov is the defense minister.
The National Counter-Terrorism Committee was established in 2006 as the authority responsible for coordinating the activities of the federal executive bodies, the executive bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation and local self-governmental fight against terrorism, as well as for carrying out preparation of the relevant proposals to the President of the Russian Federation. The NCTC includes the heads of almost all law-enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and key government departments, as well as both houses of the Russian parliament.
