MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - The issue of telephone eavesdropping should be approached with great caution, Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has urged.

"You need to be careful here," Lukin said in an interview with the Vesti-24 television channel on Wednesday.

Lukin was commenting on the order by the Information and Communications Ministry published last Friday, which requires telephone operators to allow security services to eavesdrop on the conversations of their clients.

There is such a problem as telephone conversations between potential terrorists, Lukin admitted, adding that the eavesdropping issue is also being discussed in the West, including Europe and America.

"But there is also another problem - a vague definition of extremism and terrorism, and the attempt by concerned agencies - I am not only talking about Russia - to include in this group anyone who disagrees with the authorities, be they local, regional and/or federal," the ombudsman said.

The decision about eavesdropping can only be made by a court, he said.

"And this should be a subject of a serious parliamentary debate, a parliamentary investigation and subsequent control," Lukin said, speaking of the possibility of eavesdropping. This should be a temporary measure, he added.

A decision about eavesdropping should exclude "any personal component," the ombudsman said.

"This problem needs to be seriously discussed, and truth is born of public debates as to what can or cannot be done," Lukin said.