Russian FM calls on 'interested' parties to join anti-terror information center

News | 13.10.2015 | 11:19

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on all interested parties to join the intelligence-sharing center recently formed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to fight against terrorist groups. "We welcome all the interested countries to attend the information center we set up with Iraq, Syria, and Iran in Baghdad,” Lavrov said at a Monday press conference in the Russian capital Moscow. He also expressed Moscow’s readiness to review proposals for establishing new coordination centers in the region for anti-terror fight. “We are still considering setting up similar coordination centers in other places in this region. As well as the countries mentioned above, countries in the Middle East and North Africa would also attend these centers," Lavrov said. The main function of the Baghdad information center, which was formed in late September, is to collect, process, and analyze data on terrorist organizations operating in the Middle East, particularly the Daesh Takfiri group. According to Russian media reports, the leadership of the joint center will be determined on a rotating basis among the four countries, starting with Iraq. Russia’s anti-terror fight   Russia launched its first airstrikes against Takfiri terrorists in Syria on September 30, hours after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Vladimir Putin the mandate to use the air force in the Arab country. According to the Russian military, all targets of the air raids are chosen based on intelligence gathered by the four participants in the information center. Daesh terror group, with members from several Western countries, has been active in Iraq and Syria for over a year, committing heinous acts of terror and atrocities against people of different religious and ethnic communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians. Press TV