Over 300 extremist youth groups controlled by Interior Ministry

MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - A total of 302 informal extremist youth
organizations are controlled by the Russian Interior Ministry, Interior
Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in an article published in the Rossiiskaya
Gazeta newspaper on Wednesday.
Nurgaliyev believes extremism poses a serious threat for the country.
"According to Interior Ministry's state information and analytical centre,
260 extremist crimes were fixed in 2006. In 2007, their number grew to
356, while in 2008 460 such crimes were fixed," the minister stressed.
"Taking into consideration the acuteness of extremist threats, the
newly set up department for counteracting extremism has been vested with
all necessary powers for monitoring processes underway in the extremist
milieu, for preventing, exposing and stopping crimes, as well as for
coordinating activity with other law enforcement agencies," he added.