Russia

By Alexei Khlebnikov : Islam.ru | Moscow / 18 Jul 2011

For more than ten years the modern world has been fighting with its main enemy - international terrorism. A distinctive feature of this process is the sustained expansion of the West led by the United States under the guise of pro-democratic slogans against terrorism. It is supported by mass media and accompanied by extremely far-fetched theories. Here is one of them below.

Image of the Enemy

By Khaled Oweis : Reuters | Amman / 13 Sept 2011

Russia has rejected Western calls for wider sanctions on Syria over its violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, in which the United Nations said 2 600 people have been killed.

A day after France described the lack of a firm UN stance against Damascus as a scandal, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday recent US and European sanctions on Syria meant “additional pressure now is absolutely not needed in this direction.”

Source : Reuters | Moscow | Friday, 09 Sept 2011

Syrian opposition representatives pressed Russia on Friday to do more to support protesters demanding the removal of President Bashar al-Assad and warned Moscow it would lose out if it failed to do so.

The criticism after talks in Moscow signalled problems for Russia in its efforts to build bridges between the Syrian government and opposition after resisting U.N. sanctions on Damascus and refusing to back Western calls for Assad to quit.

Source : Reuters | Dushanbe / 02 Sept 2011

Russia agreed with Tajikistan on Friday to extend the deployment of its military base in the country, a move likely to boost Moscow’s influence in Central Asia after the pullout of NATO troops from Afghanistan.

The expiry of Russia’s current 10-year base lease deal with Tajikistan in 2013 would have dealt another blow to Moscow’s clout in its former imperial backyard ahead of the planned 2014 NATO pullout from next-door Afghanistan.

23 August, Wednesday | RIA Novosti, MOSCOW

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered a trademark robust response on Tuesday to proposals that the North Caucasus republics should be economically and socially separate entities from Russia.

"Those who are saying this should have something cut off of them," Putin said in an interview with Chechen media in connection with the 60th anniversary of the birth of Chechnya's first Kremlin-backed president, the late Ahmad Kadyrov.

Source : Reuters
TEHRAN | 16 Aug 2011

Iran welcomed on Tuesday a Russian attempt to revive talks with six world powers that are concerned about the its uranium enrichment program, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, but was vague about what the agenda should be.

After meeting Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, his Iranian counterpart said a proposal by Moscow — details of which have not been made public — could be used to re-launch the talks that stalled in January.

Source : Thomas Grove | Reuters
MOSCOW | 18 Jul 2011

Russia began large-scale air force training manoeuvres in the North Caucasus on Monday in a step towards boosting security against an Islamic insurgency raging in the region, a newspaper reported.

The exercise is the largest of its kind in the predominantly Muslim region of Kabardino-Balkaria in 15 years and will involve fighter jets and combat helicopters, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily quoted air force spokesman Vladimir Drik as saying.

Source : Agencies
MOSCOW | 18 Jul 2011

Russia’s foreign minister says his country will not offer asylum to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi if he steps down.

Sergey Lavrov was asked about the possibility at a news conference Monday and said “the answer is negative.”

Russia’s envoy for Africa Mikhail Margelov visited Libya in June and said that Qaddafi has lost his legitimacy.

Source : Steve Gutterman | Reuters
MOSCOW | 05 Jul 2011

Russia urged the United States on Tuesday to give more scrutiny to allegations of human rights violations by US soldiers and agents during conflicts abroad, pointing to reported abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Foreign Ministry’s human rights representative said information from activist groups “gives reason to believe serious violations of international rights protection norms have occurred during US military operations” in those countries.

Source : Lutfi Abu-Aun | Reuters
TRIPOLI | 30 Jun 2011

Russia said on Thursday France’s arms drop to opposition fighting Muammar Qaddafi violated a UN arms embargo on Libya, a stance that could deepen divisions within a NATO alliance that wants him ousted from power.

France on Wednesday became the first NATO country to openly acknowledge arming the insurgency against Qaddafi’s 41-year rule that has become the bloodiest of the pro-democracy “Arab Spring” revolts buffeting the Middle East and North Africa.