#4
Russia Warns Vs. Civilian Deaths
October 10, 2001
By SARAH KARUSH
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's defense minister warned Wednesday that U.S.-led
strikes must not lead to civilian casualties, and said Moscow had no plans
to provide an air corridor for warplanes headed for Afghanistan.
``We are united with our partners in (the view) that military strikes
should bear a pinpoint character, targeting terrorist centers,'' Sergei
Ivanov told the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.
``The truly guilty people should be punished, and in no way the Afghan or
any other people,'' he said.
U.S. officials have stressed they are committed to minimizing civilian
casualties in the strikes and providing humanitarian aid to the Afghan
people.
Moscow has declared its support for the U.S.-led campaign to force the
Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11
attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Ivanov reiterated that Moscow would allow humanitarian transport planes
into its air space, but ruled out allowing military planes to pass through.
He also called for efforts by the world's law enforcement agencies to cut
off the funds of terrorist groups by cracking down on drug trafficking and
through stricter control of financial transactions.
Russia has said it would step up its support for the anti-Taliban northern
alliance by sending arms and humanitarian aid. Clashes between the alliance
and the Taliban have escalated near the borders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Ivanov said high-ranking Russian generals were sent to Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan to coordinate Russian actions with the two former Soviet
republics that border Afghanistan.
President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation on the Tajik-Afghan border
with Konstantin Totsky, the chief of the Russian border guards. Russia
maintains 25,000 troops in Tajikistan to guard the country's border.
In his speech to the Federation Council, Ivanov also said he supported the
idea of building a joint missile defense system for the Commonwealth of
Independent States, a loose alliance of former Soviet states, according to
ITAR-Tass.
