The summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) decided to boost the role of the Anti-Terrorist Center and draft a concept of cooperation in the fight against international terrorism and extremism, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said on Tuesday.

Leaders of the CIS member states had adopted a statement to condemn terrorist acts, Kuchma, an outgoing head of the CIS, told a press conference following the CIS summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

They expressed their full solidarity with Russia in its struggle against terrorism and believed the spread of international terrorism can be prevented only by consolidating efforts of the whole civilized world, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The CIS, set up in 1991, is made up of 12 former Soviet republics. Russian President Vladimir Putin was elected new chairman of the council of the heads of state of the CIS at the summit.

Speaking at the CIS forum, Putin lashed out at double standards in the struggle against world terrorism.

"The atrocities we saw in Beslan gave grounds to say that the bandits are part of world terrorist forces," Putin said.

"The struggle against terrorism envisages only one opinion -- law, concerted efforts and firmness," he stressed.

The CIS leaders also discussed cooperation in the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal migration, the report said.

Meanwhile, the presidents signed several documents, including a concept of cooperation in the containment of illegal migration, an interstate anti-crime program for 2005-2007, and a program of cooperation against drug-trafficking until 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)