[PEN-L:1516] countdown to Amargeddon

["Frank Durgin" <fdurgin1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----------
>Taken from  "russiatoday.com"
> Date: Friday, September 04, 1998 11:44 AM


> Lubyanka Was Disarmed
>
> Summary
> According to Segodnya, all members of the Federal Security Service's
> (FSB's) Second Department, which is responsible for fighting terrorism,
> were ordered to turn in their arms. Previously, they had carried firearms
> while on duty.
>
> The order reportedly came not from the head of the department, Gen.
> Pronichev, but from higher officials, the daily said. The servicemen did
> not give arms to their immediate chiefs, but brought them directly to
> storage facilities.
>
> >From now on, FSB servicemen will have to submit a number of written
permits
> to get pistols, for instance. Previously, they only had to address the
> immediate commander for this.
>
> Segodnya wrote that this order proves that the FSB is considered
> "unreliable" by some Russian officials. The daily also noted that FSB
chief
> Vladimir Putin was not included Wednesday on the president's list of
> ministers who will retain their posts.
>
> It is not clear how the FSB will perform its job of "protecting
> constitutional order," since it has been disarmed, the daily concluded.
>
> RUSSIA TODAY Notes:
> Recently, some politicians in Russia have suggested that the country's
> current economic and political crisis are leading toward mass civil
unrest,
> and rumors have surfaced that government officials are preparing troops
for
> such a possibility.
>
> about S E G O D N Y A
> (circulation 100,000) Owned by the Most Group headed by Vladimir
Gusinsky,
> the paper was set up in 1993 and now targets a business-minded audience.
It
> has managed to pool some good journalists who report on a wide range of
> issues and opinions, although some have since defected to the new daily,
> Russkie Telegraf.
>