International

Russia warns of global instability

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MARCH 21. The war in Iraq is fraught with a global political fallout, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has warned. ``The crisis has gone beyond the framework a regional conflict and has today become a potential source of instability for other regions of the world, including the CIS (the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States),'' Mr. Putin said.

``The military action in Iraq is fraught with consequences that are hard to predict, including the surge of extremism,'' the Russian leader told a meeting of CIS security chiefs in Moscow on Friday.

The meeting was called to discuss the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which unites Russia and five other former Soviet republics. "CSTO today must work to minimise the negative effects of the war, maintain stability in the region and preserve the unity of the international community in combating terrorism.'' The Russian Parliament today called for an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly to discuss "the aggression by the U.S., Britain and allies against Iraq,'' and "post-war reconstruction of Iraq under U.N. auspices,'' and urged the U.N. Security Council to discuss sending peace-keeping forces to Iraq to separate the warring sides.

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