Terrorist attacks on U.S.: the international reaction (11/04/01)

Terrorist attacks on U.S.: the international reaction

Special from RFE/RL Newsline

Kinakh pledges to help fight terrorism

KYIV - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh of Ukraine said on October 29 that Ukraine is ready to assist foreign states, including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, in fighting terrorism, Inter te-levision reported. Mr. Kinakh made this statement at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York upon his arrival for a three-day visit to the United States. He noted that he plans to discuss limitations in bilateral trade with U.S. officials. The prime minister spent the first day of his visit in New York meeting with city and state officials, U.S. businessmen and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In addition, he visited the World Trade Center site and attended a service in St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Tatarstan's president breaks silence

KAZAN - Tatarstan's President Mintimer Shaimiev told diplomatic representatives from the European Union visiting Kazan on October 26 that he hopes Russia will not be drawn into the war with Afghanistan, Interfax-Eurasia reported, citing Tatarstan's presidential press service. Previously, Mr. Shaimiev and the head of another predominantly Muslim republic, Bashkortostan's President Murtaza Rakhimov, had refrained from commenting on the U.S.-led air strikes against Afghanistan. Mr. Shaimiev added that both Christians and Muslims condemn the organizers of the terrorist acts of September 11.

U.S. to help destroy bioweapons

TASHKENT - In an agreement initiated by the United States and Uzbekistan in Tashkent on October 22, the United States agreed it will help Uzbekistan destroy stockpiles of Soviet-era biological weapons on Vozrozhdenie Island in the Aral Sea, Reuters and the Associated Press reported. The site is believed to contain quantities of anthrax spores, according to The New York Times. In 1999 the United States had provided Tashkent with funding for a two-year program to close down the former Soviet chemical weapons plant at Nukus.

U.S. thanks Ukraine for support

KYIV - U.S. President George W. Bush and the American people have expressed their gratitude to the Ukrainian government and people for supporting the United States in its anti-terrorist campaign, UNIAN reported on October 25, quoting presidential spokesman Ihor Storozhuk. "We are also thankful for the prompt and positive answer to our request to allow U.S. transit airspace," Mr. Storozhuk quoted from a letter sent by the U.S. State Department and signed by President Bush.

Russian 'sources' suggest bombing halt

MOSCOW - Sources in the security agencies told Interfax on October 24 that the United States ought to consider halting the bombing of Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Meanwhile, Mikhail Margelov, the vice- chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, said that after the fall of the Taliban regime, there must be "a complete de- Talibanization" of that country, the news service reported.

Bin Laden said to fund Chechens

MOSCOW - Citing the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the Russian paper Trud on October 24 reported that Russian special services have said that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has provided $10 million to Chechen militants. Meanwhile, an article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta the same day said Mr. bin Laden had sent money to Russian Muslims in the early 1990s. At that time, the paper said, Mr. bin Laden was viewed as "a hero" for his assistance to the anti-Soviet resistance in Afghanistan, but "in Russia they knew who bin Laden was already in 1991." Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov has repeatedly denied any connections with Mr. bin Laden. Other "informed sources" told ITAR-TASS that Chechen militant leader Khattab plans to send some Chechen militants to Afghanistan.

Zbig doubts Russia to have 'free hand'

MOSCOW - In an interview published in Nezavisimaya Gazeta on October 24, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said that he very much doubts that Moscow will get "the free hand" it seeks in Chechnya despite the Russian government's support for the international anti-terrorist effort. He predicted that NATO will enlarge, but that this is not directed against Russia. He said that he "excludes" a return to the Cold War because that would not be in the interests of either Russia or the United States.

Uzbekistan, U.N. agree on aid transport

TASHKENT - Following talks in Tashkent on October 24 with President Islam Karimov, United Nations Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima told journalists the following day that the Uzbek leadership has granted permission for the use of airport and port facilities in Termez on the Uzbek-Afghan border to facilitate the transport of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Reuters and Interfax reported. The border bridge at Termez has been closed since 1997, and Uzbek Foreign Affairs Minister Abdulaziz Komilov said earlier this week it will not be reopened.

Zhirinovsky sees 'war' against Russia

MOSCOW - Duma Vice-Chairman Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, said on October 25 that the U.S. anti-terrorist campaign in Afghanistan is a continuation of America's "war against Russia," Interfax reported. He said Moscow should only support the U.S. operation if Washington agrees "not to interfere in the affairs of states that are a zone of Russian interests - the countries of the former USSR, India, Iran and Iraq." Moreover, he said he fears that as the war in Afghanistan continues, "millions of refugees" from that country will flood into Russia, destabilizing the situation and thus allowing the United States to use "the hands of others" to pursue its attack on Russia.

Russian papers increasingly anti-U.S.

MOSCOW - Writing in the usually liberal Obschaya Gazeta on October 25, Academician Sergei Alekseyev said that in his judgment "the so-called anti-terrorist campaign led by the U.S. is in the final analysis directed against Russia." Moreover, Mr. Alekseyev continued, by joining the anti-terrorist coalition, Russia has put its own interests at risk. Meanwhile, Father Mikhail Ardov of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church said in an interview published in Novaya Gazeta that same day that the terrorist attacks on the United States were "an act of providence" to punish the country for "its arrogance and betrayal of Christian civilization."

Comments on natural dominance in CIS

MOSCOW - An article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta of October 23 said that "Washington [now] recognizes Russia's right to a 'natural dominance' in the post-Soviet states." The newspaper also commented: "An attempt at neutralizing Russian influence in the Transcaucasus has unambiguously failed. The West, the U.S. in particular, turned out to be too far away to establish absolute dominance over the region while Russia's rivals nearby showed themselves to be insufficiently strong and not quite experienced players. The Transcaucasus battle of three historical empires - Russian, Turkish and Iranian - turned out to be lost by Teheran and Ankara, and may be fully won by Moscow quite soon."

Moscow expects Chechnya reassessment

MOSCOW - In an October 23 article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Viacheslav Trubnikov said that the main difficulty in combating international terrorism is that there is no agreed-upon definition of terrorism. One example of differences of opinion about terrorism concerns Chechnya, where the West has been unwilling until recently to understand that Russia is engaged in a counter-terrorist effort. He called on the West to end double standards in its assessment of events in Chechnya, noting that there has been some progress in that regard.

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