MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti)-A high-ranking Russian official said Monday that events in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina sent "an extremely unpleasant signal to the terrorist community."

Nikolai Spassky, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, told an international security conference in Moscow that terrorists could see how the most powerful country in the world had been unable to deal with a natural disaster.

Spassky said the American authorities' failure to reestablish order in a small area and help people against criminals, hunger and the elements, was "a very alarming signal."