EU in a pickle over "robust" Putin remarks about Islam
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A day after Vladimir Putin's outburst over Islam and human rights in Chechnya after an EU-Russia summit, the European Union distanced itself from the Russian president's "robust" language, saying it cannot stop him from speaking his mind.
At a post-summit press conference Monday, Putin said Chechen rebels want to kill all non-Muslims.
When a reporter questioned the Kremlin's crackdown in Chechnya - a sensitive issue also raised by the EU at the summit - Putin became agitated and suggested the man become a Muslim and come to Moscow for circumcision, an Islamic tenet for all males.
"If you want to become an Islamic radical and have yourself circumcised, I invite you to come to Moscow. Our nation is multi-confessional, we have experts in the field," he said in response to a question from a reporter from the French daily Le Monde.
The exact meaning of his comments were not immediately clear to neither the 450 journalists nor the senior EU officials at Monday's press conference as interpreters could not keep up with Putin and did not translate fully what he said.
As a result, there was a little coverage in European media Tuesday of Putin's outburst.
An audio tape, translated by The Associated Press on Tuesday, showed Putin using highly undiplomatic language.
EU spokesman Jonathan Faull, who was not at the press conference, said if Putin had been crude then that was "entirely inappropriate."
Gunnar Wiegand, another spokesman, said it was not the job of EU officials to take responsibility for comments foreign dignitaries made.
He acknowledged, however, Putin used "decidedly less robust" language when speaking at the summit of the war in Chechnya and human rights there.
The Russian leader, a former KGB spy operative, said Chechen Muslims want a Caliphate - or Muslim state "on Russia soil."
He said Islamic "radicals have much more ambitious goals" and that is to kill all non-Muslims but also many Muslims.
"They talk about setting up a worldwide Caliphate and the need to kill Americans and their allies," Putin said. He added,
"They talk about the need to kill all ... non-Muslims, or 'crusaders,' as they put it. If you are a Christian, you are in danger.
"If you decided to abandon your faith and become an atheist, you also are to be liquidated according to their concept.
"You are in danger if you decide to become a Muslim. It is not going to save you anyway because they believe traditional Islam is hostile to their goals."
On Tuesday, EU officials said they made "strenuous efforts" to get Putin to sign a joint declaration on Chechnya where Russians are accused of using heavy arms against civilian populations.
The Russian leader refused because it would have contained a reference to human rights.
The Russian daily Kommersant said the EU-Russia summit "ended in a serious scandal" because of Putin comments which Kremlin aides said were in response to a "provocative question."
Gazeta.ru, a leading online publication, quoted unidentified Putin aides as saying the president was tired and angry for being peppered with Chechnya questions.
Putin owes his quick rise in the Russian power structure to his tough handling of the Chechen war, which is sharply criticized by many in the West.
Putin said Russia was fighting international terrorism in Chechnya, not an independence movement. He called Chechen fighters "religious extremists and international terrorists" whose impact has spread far beyond the borders of Chechnya.
He pointed to last month's hostage-taking in a Moscow theater by Chechen rebels. Special forces troops stormed the auditorium after three days, pumping a knock-out gas into the theater to disable the rebels, all of whom were killed.
At least 128 of the approximately 750 hostages died, most of them from the effects of the disabling gas.
Putin praised Russian handling of the crisis and said other nations must adopt a similarly tough stand against terrorism to prevent further incidents like it and the recent bombing of tourist nightclubs in Bali where about 200 people died. |
