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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (2644)	10/4/2001 5:58:31 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Putin says attacks on Afghanistan could be successful, praises Blair MOSCOW, Oct 04, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he had no doubt that the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan could be successful and hailed visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in warming ties between Moscow and the West. "We shall see how effective the actions of the international anti-terrorist coalition will be after such actions become a reality," Putin said. "But I don't have a grain of doubt that they can be effective indeed." Putin dismissed concerns that the military action in Afghanistan could hurt civilians, saying the action's planners were taking due care of their safety and adding that civilians had already been suffering under rigid Taliban rule. "If there are victims, terrorists who have made civilians their hostages are to be blamed for that," he added. Putin last week expressed strong support for the U.S.-led coalition, offering Russian airspace for humanitarian flights and pledging to provide Afghanistan's opposition forces battling the ruling Taliban militia with weapons and equipment. He said Thursday that Russia might offer further assistance to the coalition depending on the "level and character of relations with our partners." Blair arrived in Russia on a quick visit after a speech in the British Parliament where he said there was "absolutely no doubt" that Osama bin Laden was behind the terror attacks on New York and Washington. After speaking to Putin in the Kremlin, Blair said that Russia's move to support the international coalition against terror had changed the face of the world. "When we are battling something like the issue of international terrorism and also on many other issues, too, we need Russia there as a partner and a friend and that is the relationship today," Blair told a news conference. "The fact that we have Russia today standing alongside the other countries of the world ... and giving its strong support to action against acts of terrorism that took place in the United States of America that is living proof, visible proof of the changed world in which we live," he said. Blair said that right from the very first meeting of his eight meetings with Putin he recognized him as "someone who had the vision and imagination to set the past aside and build new relationship for the future." Putin, in turn, said that Blair along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were to be credited for their efforts to improve ties with Russia at a time when "the Western public wasn't as friendly toward Russia as now." "Thanks to the stance taken by those leaders, the West has acquired in Russia a reliable partner in the struggle against international terrorism," Putin said. The Interfax news agency reported that Blair would leave Moscow on Friday morning and head to Pakistan. Blair's office refused to say when the prime minister would return to London, and would not comment on reports that he also would visit Pakistan and possibly Oman. By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved