FT943-16238 _AN-EGFD2AHIFT 940705 FT 05 JUL 94 / FBI in business in Moscow By JOHN LLOYD The director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr Louis Freeh, yesterday opened a representative office in Moscow and appealed to the Russian authorities to combat crime before it overwhelmed them. Mr Freeh told an audience of interior ministry police officers that Russian organised crime represented 'a threat to world security'. The FBI chief, on a 10-day tour of eastern Europe, told a packed hall at the interior ministry police academy that the fact that Russian crime groups could 'use their existing and expanding criminal networks to exploit weapons grade radioactive materials is sufficient to warrant international concern and action'. Though his speech was a model of diplomatic balance, he stressed the many mistakes made by US law enforcement agencies in the original response to the growth of organised crime which 'permitted the expansion of a powerful, well-organised crime syndicate'. However, he stressed the need to tackle urgently the Russian problem - now being internationalised. As well as the 'significant threat . . . of a catastrophic attack' by criminals armed with nuclear weapons, Mr Freeh stressed: The potential of crime gangs 'to ultimately retard Russia's economic development and precipitate the flight of legitimate capital'; The ability of the gangs to 'launder' money from Russia through banks in the US - 'a potentially corrupting influence on the banking industries in Russia and the US'. The threat posed to the Russian state by the growing and ruthless power of the gangs. Quoting President Boris Yeltsin, Mr Freeh said that 'organised crime is trying to take the country by the throat'. The use of Russia as a transhipment point for drug traffic - especially by the Colombian drug cartels. However, Mr Freeh insisted that the 'law enforcement response to this criminal threat must be 'consistent with the fundamental principles of justice'. Countries:- RUZ Russia, East Europe. Industries:- P9711 National Security. Types:- RES Facilities. The Financial Times International Page 2