Estonian minister accused of lying

TALLINN- Jaanus Rahumagi, chairman of theparliament's security institutions supervisory committee, has evaded statementsby Interior Minister Juri Pihl to the effect that the committee wishes to keepthe intelligence function of the defense forces.

Rahumagi, of the ruling Reform Party, told the daily Eesti Paevaleht thatthe assertions of Pihl, a Social Democrat, were untrue.

He said there were two security institutions in Estonia-- the Security Police dealing with counterintelligence and the InformationBoard focusing on military, foreign and economic intelligence.

"At the request of the national defense committee, an amendment hasbeen made by our special security institutions supervisory committee. Itregards military intelligence not as an independent intelligence unit in thecomposition of the defense forces, but as a sphere of activity of theInformation Board," Rahumagi added. "We are getting rid of the systemthat created a lot of bad blood and in which the defense forces had its ownintelligence unit."

Pihl said in Friday's issue of the daily Eesti Paevaleht that Rahumagi hadmade an amendment to the defense forces organization bill extending authorityof the military intelligence as well as carrying out domestic surveillanceactivities.

"This would bring the effective system out of balance," theminister said.

Rahumagi said that the intelligence chapter was very contradictory. "Itwas clear that it had been drawn up in a hurry," he added.

The MP underlined that the wording had mostly been made more intelligible inthe security institutions committee. "To read from the paper the interiorminister's reproaches is the same as to accuse the parliament of being a rubberstamp," the committee chairman said.

Rahumagi said that the problem was in that by the bill control of at leastone thousand members of the defense forces would have been given to theSecurity Police.

"This means planning the activity of the Security Police not in Estoniaalone, but also in Afghanistan,"he said. "Substantially the Security Police should be transferred to thedefense forces territory, which means friction between structures and which wedo not want by any means."

Rahumagi added that actually the Security Police already had control overthe defense forces because it exercised security control of the leadership ofthe Information Board as well as the defense forces staff.

"To say that the control will disappear as a result of our motions is alie," he said.

Rahumagi reiterated that for an unknown reason Pihl wanted to hand over tothe Security Police the execution of security control, which means that theSecurity Police and the Interior Ministry would start controlling the personnelpolicy of the defense forces.

"I personally do not consider this to be right and find it is asecurity risk," he saidf.

Pihl himself said in Saturday's issue of Eesti Paevaleht that the defenseforces organization bill had been written over several years and mainly theDefense Ministry and the Justice Ministry had thoroughly polished it.

"The role of the Interior Ministry in the issue what the structure ofthe defense forces intelligenece and counterintelligence should look like issecondary," he added, "Before handing the bill over to thegovernment, there were numerous discussions in which also the justice minister,the defense minister, the interior minister and the defense forces headquarterstook part.

The minister said that the final position was endorsed by the governmentsecurity committee and the compromises and solutions were approved also by thegovernment.

"They do not concentrate power and permit agencies to perform theirmain duties," said Pihl, a former head of the Security Police.