Unearth roots of terrorism: Putin

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, SEPT. 22. The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, said on Saturday that terrorism was a global evil and to get rid of it ``we must unearth its roots rather than try to strike down its fruit with a stick''. He was talking to German mediapersons in the runup to his visit to Germany on Tuesday. He urged the U.S. to rely more on anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

``It is necessary to look for support and allies in Afghanistan itself. There are quite enough such forces in that country. One of the most obvious and familiar is the Northern Alliance and President Rabbani.''

Mr. Putin said Russia would not take part in U.S. military strikes without U.N. sanction.

``The use of armed forces in third countries can only take place on decision of the U.N. Security Council,'' Mr. Putin said. ``We have observed this rule so far and intend to do so in future.'' The Russian leader pledged full cooperation to the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, but said the main problem was that of trust and double standards.

``It is wrong to maintain that people who blow up buildings in Moscow are freedom fighters and those who do the same in other countries are terrorists,'' Mr. Putin said with reference to the Chechen-linked 1999 bomb attacks in Moscow and other Russian cities.

He recorded his interview before the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush's Congress address, which appears to have done little to dispel his concerns.

Russian analysts wondered why Mr. Bush did not name Russia among countries which had supported the U.S. in its resolve to fight terrorism. They also resented the U.S. President's formula ``either you are with us or you are with the terrorists''. ``This means that all other countries must unquestioningly toe the U.S. line,'' said Dr. Sergei Rogov, Director of the U.S.A. and Canada Institute. ``If the U.S. will itself decide who is guilty and punish them... there can be no question of strategic partnership (between Russia and America).''

``We cannot fully identify ourselves with the U.S. policy. What is needed today is to do away with the policy of state terrorism and dictate, which is a prime breeding ground for terrorism,'' General Leonid Ivashov, former foreign policy spokesman of the Russian Defence Ministry, referring to the U.S. policy in Yugoslavia and Iraq.

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Section  : International
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