Russian President's Special Envoy Welcomes Bin Ladin Death
Moscow, 2 May: The elimination of terrorist "number one" Usamah Bin-Ladin has dealt a severe blow to Al-Qa'idah, Anatoliy Safonov, the Russian president's special envoy for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime, told Interfax on Monday (2 May).
"The departure of such an odious, ominous figure is an important positive stage. It is connected with a logical weakening of Al-Qa'idah, which is losing its leaders, morale and potential. Now Bin-Ladin's turns has come," he said.
"This success will put an end to a great many speculations: that Bin-Ladin is impossible to catch, and that it is in someone's interests for him to be impossible to catch," Safonov said.
He said that Bin-Ladin's elimination coincided in time with the destruction of a whole series of militant leaders in the Russian North Caucasus with links to Al-Qa'idah.
"This is the natural strangulation of Al-Qa'idah itself. Bin Ladin's elimination is an important signal to all the lost souls hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus, or somewhere in Africa. It is a signal to the rank-and-file: is the foolish idea of radicalism worth one's life? The end result is the same, for (the late Chechen rebel warlord Shamil) Basayev in the Caucasus, and for Bin-Ladin," Safonov said.
"It would be naive to imagine that the era of the fight against terrorism has ended with Bin-Ladin's elimination. New points of attention and new accents emerge. The 'hero' is gone, but there is still a lot left to do," Safonov said.
"A younger and even more radical leader may come in Bin-Ladin's place, but the time of such a 'hero' is already past. There are no historical reasons for (another) figure like Bin-Ladin to appear," the Russian president's special envoy said.
In his view, Bin-Ladin's elimination should give an impetus to a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan.
According to Safonov, the international community should learn its lessons from the emergence of the figure of Bin-Ladin, and his evolution into the leader of a terrorist organization.
"In any case, a lot of work still lies ahead. It will take some time to reclaim the seeds sown by Bin-Ladin. We need time and the effort of the entire international community for one common goal of security," Safonov said.
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