Strategist warns Putin against arming Cold War allies
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, March 15, 2001
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warned that his
policy of aiding Iran's missile and nuclear programs could backfire.
In an unusual departure, a senior parliamentarian and strategist
asserted that Iran could use the missile and nuclear technology to threaten
Moscow within 15 years. The parliamentarian warned against what he termed
was Putin's strategy of helping such U.S. rivals as China, Iran,
Libya, North Korea and Pakistan.
Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of the Duma's Defense Committee, told a
news conference that Putin has again pursued the interests of the former
Soviet Union in developing relations with such countries Iraq, Libya, and
the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Arbatov raised the prospect that Russian technology could help produce
an Islamic bomb that might be supplied to insurgents fighting Moscow. The
Russian army is dealing with such an insurgency in Chechnya, which he said
is being given increasingly rhetorical support by Teheran.
"I would advise him to be very careful in our military-technical
cooperation with such countries as China and
Iran," Arbatov said.
"We should deliver weapons to them. This is commercially beneficial and it promotes our partnership, but we shouldn't
deliver systems that will lend a marked offensive character to their armed
forces because we can never tell whether that potential would not be
directed against us in 10 to 15 years time."
On Monday, Putin signed military and nuclear cooperation agreements with
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami in what officials said will accelerate
plans to sell conventional weapons and technology to Teheran. The Russian
president said Moscow plans to sell defensive weapons to Teheran. But he
would not elaborate.
For his part, Arbatov, deputy chief of parliament's defense committee,
said Moscow's Muslim clients could end up using weapons against Russia.
Arbatov identified Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and raised the
prospect that the Saudis could sell the ruling Afghan Taliban movement
missiles and even weapons of mass destruction over the next decade.
Thursday, March 15, 2001
Subscribe to World Tribune.com's Daily Headline Alert
Click Above To Subscribe
See current edition of
Return toWorld Tribune.com Front Cover
Contact World Tribune.com at world@worldtribune.com
|