Petrodollars fuelling terrorism: Russia

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, OCT. 10. Russia has criticised Western attempts to support moderate factions in the Taliban and named Saudi Arabia as a major source of funding international terrorists. The Russian Defence Minister, Mr. Sergei Ivanov, drew an equation mark between Number 1 terrorist, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban, calling them ``two sides of a coin''.

``Trying to differentiate between them and to say that bin Laden is bad, but a section of the Taliban is good, is an absolutely futile endeavour,'' Mr. Ivanov told the Upper House of Russian Parliament, the Federation Council. The second most powerful man in the Kremlin very close to the President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, openly accused Saudi moneybags of funding terrorists.

``Funding of extremists, which comes from the territory of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, is based on two simple sources - petrodollars and drug trafficking, which brings billions of dollars,'' Mr. Ivanov said, adding that most terrorists who had carried out the September 11 attacks in the U.S. were not Afghans, but Saudi citizens. As the U.S. mulls extending the anti-terrorist operation to other ``hostile'' countries, such as Iraq, Moscow is advising Washington to pay closer attention to some of its allies, such as Saudi Arabia. Moscow has long listed Saudi Arabia among main funding sources for Chechen rebels.

Russia has been active mobilising international opposition to possible U.S. strikes outside Afghanistan. Informed sources said Russia's Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, discussed this problem in telephone talks over the past two days with his opposite numbers in India, China, Egypt, Katar and the Arab League general secretary.

The Russian Parliament's Upper House on Wednesday voiced the hope that the anti-terrorist operation would be ``thoroughly measured'' and consistent with the U.N. Charter. The Lower House Speaker, Mr. Gennady Seleznyov, called any U.S. attacks on countries other than Afghanistan ``totally unacceptable''.

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Section  : International
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