41.   He became an outspoken critic of Shevardnadze after the Georgian leader tried to crack down on the Mkhedrioni for alleged involvement in organised crime.

42.   He announced the sackings of Khorishkov and Leonid Gelezniak at a meeting of a presidential committee set up to tackle organised crime and corruption.

43.   He believed police were being killed because organised crime felt threatened that relations between police and the community were improving.

44.   He later hopes to move to the department of organised crime, where he will join a Nigerian who has acquired Polish nationality.

45.   He said he was shattered to see children playing at being in organised crime and using the names of notorious gangsters.

46.   He said it was being set up in line with a government report on politicians and organised crime which called for such a mechanism to bust the links.

47.   His arrest may be linked to a campaign launched this week by President Emil Constantinescu to crack down on corruption and organised crime.

48.   He told MPs there were three main threats from organised crime here, through organised motorcycle gangs, ethnic gangs and Asian organised crime groups.

49.   However such powers remain restricted to cases of serious organised crime such as drug-trafficking or arms dealing.

50.   His departure comes amid a scandal alleging that organised crime rings had infiltrated the state administration.