MOSCOW, July 7: Russian lawmakers on Friday unanimously endorsed a Kremlin request that President Vladimir Putin be allowed to send special forces to hunt down terrorists anywhere in the world.

Putin demanded the right in response to the murder last month of five Russian diplomats by Iraqi insurgents.

He has ordered that the militants be hunted down and “eliminated”, and security services have offered $10 million for information leading to their capture.

Senators in the upper house of parliament rapidly approved the bill on Friday morning.

They blamed international terrorists for the killing and said the permission would remain in force until “the elimination of the threat of terrorist acts”.—Reuters