The Hindu : Russia for continued inspections

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

International

International

Russia for continued inspections

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MARCH 3. Russia will press for continued weapons inspections in Iraq when the Security Council meets to debate the inspectors' report later this week.

A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia would stick to its unwavering position that the Iraq crisis must be resolved through "politico-legal means only." Commenting on the first three-month report of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in Iraq to be presented on March 7, the spokesman, Alexander Yakovenko, said the report "has only strengthened our conviction that inspections should continue to ensure full implementation of the (U.N. Security Council) resolutions on Iraq by politico-legal methods only."

Earlier the Interfax news agency quoted a Russian diplomat as describing the UNMOVIC report as "fairly balanced and oriented towards continuation of inspections in Iraq."

The diplomat said that Russia, France and Germany would push for the adoption of their memorandum which calls for U.N. inspectors to be given another three months. The three countries, which have submitted the memorandum as an alternative to the U.S.-British `war' resolution, regard it as "a roadmap for an Iraqi settlement," the Russian diplomat told Interfax.

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