Putin Convinced of bin Laden Link
October 2, 2001
By PAUL AMES
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday
he was
convinced Osama bin Laden had a role in the attacks on the United States
and
suggested Russia's cooperation in fighting terrorism should usher in a
new
era in its relations with the West.
Putin said Russian intelligence agencies had all the evidence they
needed to
show that bin Laden was involved in the attacks, but that they could not
pinpoint the exact degree of that involvement.
In Brussels for meetings with Belgian, European Union and NATO leaders,
he
called international terrorists ``bacteria that adapt by living off
their
host body'' and said a global alliance is needed to fight them.
``The effort will never work unless we unite the whole international
community in a common front against terrorism,'' Putin said after talks
with
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
Putin said Russia would support U.S. military action against those
responsible for the attacks. He criticized Saudi Arabia's defense
minister,
who has said no troops would be allowed to use bases in his nation to
launch
attacks on Arabs or Muslims.
``We're not talking about strikes against Muslims, but strikes against
terrorism,'' Putin told reporters, echoing what the United States has
been
assuring nations in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Putin has ruled out Russian military involvement in a U.S. strike in
Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime shelters terrorist suspect Osama
bin
Laden.
But he said Russia would work with the West to help tackle terrorist
financing and support networks for extremists, as well as tackling
causes of
terrorism, including poverty and instability.
``I think military force is not enough to fight terrorism ... we have to
eliminate the base upon which terrorism is founded, eliminate the
causes,''
he said. ``We are ready to strengthen our cooperation with NATO and
European
military structures, to give a new quality to our relationship.''
Putin spoke after NATO announced that the United States had provided
``clear
and compelling'' evidence that bin Laden was involved in the Sept. 11
attacks
and activated an article of the alliance treaty that says an attack on
one
NATO member is an attack on all.
Russian and NATO officials met in Brussels to discuss ways to enhance
cooperation, and Putin was to meet with NATO Secretary-General Lord
Robertson
and EU leaders Wednesday. EU officials praised Putin for throwing his
support
behind the American-led anti-terrorist coalition.
``Russia has impressed many by her willingness to set history aside and
to
align herself solidly with the international coalition against
terrorism,''
EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said in a speech to
European
business leaders.
A top Russian security official reiterated Tuesday that Russia would not
take
part in a U.S.-led attack in Afghanistan and said its neighbors in a
loose
grouping of former Soviet republics share that stance.
``The Commonwealth of Independent States should not take part in the
land
operation in Afghanistan. This is our common stand,'' said Nikolai
Patrushev,
the head of Russia's Federal Security Service.
Patrushev spoke in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, after a two-day meeting with
chiefs
of the security services of other nations in the commonwealth, which
includes
Central Asian states that border Afghanistan.
He said the United States should proceed with an operation targeting bin
Laden if it has detailed information connecting him to the attacks, but
that
any military operation should be precise and swift.
``We shouldn't allow long-term actions of retribution, as a result of
which
the peaceful population of Afghanistan would suffer,'' Patrushev said.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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