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DATE=4/5/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=HUNGARY / F-B-I (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-260986 BYLINE=STEFAN BOS DATELINE=BUDAPEST CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A task force from the U-S Federal Bureau of Investigation, the F-B-I, has arrived in Hungary to help combat organized crime in Eastern Europe. As Stefan Bos reports from Budapest, U-S officials hope the F-B-I mission will become an example for other former East-Bloc countries that have seen a dramatic increase of crime since the collapse of communism. TEXT: U-S Ambassador Peter Tufo confirmed Wednesday that four F-B-I agents have arrived in Hungary, following an agreement between Washington and Budapest. Beginning next month, Mr. Tufo says, the F-B-I agents will work with Hungary's Anti-Organized Crime Directorate in an effort to combat mainly Russian- speaking organized-crime groups. The director of the Hungarian unit, General Istvan Miko, told reporters the F-B-I team includes Russian- speaking agents. All members of the anti-organized- crime force will carry weapons, he says, for self- defense. U-S officials say they agreed to station F-B-I agents here because Hungary's transition away from communism has been complicated by organized-crime gangs operating across this country's borders with the former Soviet Union. Hungarian police say Budapest is home to Russian businessman Semyon Mogilevich, who has been linked to the widely publicized, multibillion-dollar Bank of New York money-laundering scandal. In addition, U-S officials say Russian mobsters are involved traditional criminal activities such as prostitution rings as well as the illicit shipment through Hungary of weapons and materials used to make weapons of mass destruction. Ambassador Tufo says the United States agreed to send F-B-I agents to help Hungary after talks between President Clinton and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. /// TUFO ACT /// President Clinton has said that international organized crime is one of our highest foreign- policy priorities. Prime Minister Orban has said that fighting organized crime is one of the principal priorities of his government. So we are jointly aware that much crime is now trans- border. It is global, it is well financed and it is ruthless. /// END ACT /// Mr. Tufo says he hopes other former communist countries will also cooperate with the F-B-I. F-B-I agent Leslie Kaciban, who heads the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, warns against too much optimism about his organization's involvement in combating organized crime. Mr. Kaciban says Hungary will have to learn to live with crime for some time to come. /// KACIBAN ACT /// Organized crime has been [here] for a long time now. It's always going to be a constant challenge to hold them back, and to try to prevent other groups from rising. /// END ACT /// Ordinary Hungarians say they hope the F-B-I will help make the streets of Budapest more secure. Since 1991, Hungary has been rocked by more than 100 bombings and grenade explosions as criminal gangs fight for influence in Budapest and other cities. (Signed) NEB/SJB/WTW/TVM/JP 05-Apr-2000 16:57 PM EDT (05-Apr-2000 2057 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .