After a meeting of the advisory body - chaired by the Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin - the Council issued a statement in which it said radical political organisations had stepped up their activities.

Foreign religious groups had become more active in Russia, the statement said, adding that "unorthodox religious associations had been been waging a vigorous campaign to provoke inter-faith conflicts".

"All this poses a threat to Russia's national security and stability," the Council concluded.

Russia faces parliamentary elections in November, and a presidential poll by the middle of next year.

In January, the Russian government approved a draft law to outlaw statements that fuel ethnic strife or incite political violence.

The bill followed a series of anti-Semitic remarks made by Communist deputies which sparked international protests.

And in February, the government in Moscow promised action, following a march through Moscow by several hundred supporters of the Russian National Unity group.

The organisation advocates a dictatorship based on the dominance of ethnic Russians.