http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw200802231142
32423C833405
Agence France-Presse
February 23, 2008
'With Kosovo now the gun has been cocked'
Moscow - An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin
on Saturday described Western recognition of Kosovo as
a cocked gun ready for firing and said a strengthening
of terrorist forces was unavoidable, Interfax
reported.
"With Kosovo now the gun has been cocked and no one
knows when and where the shot will ring out," said
Anatoly Safonov, Putin's envoy for international
cooperation in combating terrorism and organised
crime, in an interview with the Russian news agency.
Safonov drew parallels with the Munich agreement of
1938, which permitted German annexation of a part of
what was then Czechoslovakia.
"The danger is of unleashing a powerful machine of
destruction, the consequences of which are
unpredictable. It's a pity they have forgotten the
lessons of the past, including the lesson of Munich in
1938," he said.
He said that Islamist "jihadists of terror" who had
settled in Kosovo could now be expected to come out
into the open.
"Many countries consider that separatism and terrorism
are links in the same chain. It's clear that terrorist
tendencies are strengthening and the flouting of
international law cannot fail to have this effect," he
said.
"With recognition of Kosovo these forces have been
given a signal that they can come out from
underground."
Russia has vehemently opposed Western recognition of
Kosovo's independence declaration, reflecting Moscow's
historical ties with Belgrade, which continues to
claim Kosovo as a Serbian province.
Putin on Friday said that Kosovo set a "terrible
precedent, which will de facto blow apart the whole
system of international relations".
Serbian News Network - SNN
[email protected]
http://www.antic.org/
