ST. PETERSBURG, July 27. /TASS/. The fight against suicide bombers will top the agenda of the meeting of heads of special services, security agencies and law enforcement authorities held under the auspices of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Taking part in the meeting are 99 delegations from 46 countries and international organizations - the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European Union, a source in the FSB Public Relations Center has told TASS.
"The main issue on the agenda of the meeting will be countering terrorist activities of foreign mercenaries, organizing systematic work to identify suicide bombers, identifying persons involved in their preparation and preventing terrorist attacks with their use," the center said. It is also planned to discuss an array of steps in the fight against spreading the ideologies of extremism and terrorism, while one of the key issues will be the use of information and telecommunications networks for terrorist purposes.
In the run-up to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, it is also expected to discuss the agreements on the use of the mechanism to exchange information on real and potential security threats and joint response to them. The mechanism of special services’ interaction was actively used while ensuring safety at the Olympic Games in Sochi and a number of other major international sports and other events in Russia and abroad.
This is the 15th meeting dedicated to cooperation in combating terrorism held under FSB auspices. It was held for the first time in March 2002 in St. Petersburg bringing together 49 delegations from 39 countries. The number of participants has grown since then. The meeting in Yaroslavl (250 kilometers northeast of Moscow) last year that focused on countering the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) brought together 94 delegations.
During the first meeting the participants agreed to set up a permanent working group to coordinate the fight against terrorism. The meeting eventually reached agreements on creating a database of terrorist organizations and their members, exchange of data on new forms of terrorist activity, exchange of experience in the work of special services in combating terrorism.
The annual meetings under FSB auspices that have no counterparts are held in various cities of Russia (Moscow, Sochi, Kazan, Khabarovsk and Khanty-Mansiysk). The very first meeting, just like the jubilee one in 2011, were held in St. Petersburg.