Thursday, June 29, 2006

Russia Blames U.S. For The Deaths Of Their Diplomats In Baghdad

Russian lawmakers unanimously blamed the U.S. for the deaths of four of their diplomats in Baghdad -- citing the atrocious security situation -- as President Vladimir Putin issued an order for the Russian special services to kill the Iraqi terrorists responsible for the crime.

Moscow also demanded in a proposed U.S. Security Council resolution that coalition forces in Baghdad provide better security for diplomats. The United States and Britain resisted the resolution...

"The tragedy that occurred recently in Iraq was only possible because of the growing crisis in the country as the occupying powers increasingly lose control of the situation," read a motion unanimously approved by the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

"All the responsibility for the situation in Iraq, including the security of its citizens and of foreign workers, lies with the occupying powers. We are convinced that they could have prevented this tragedy," the lawmakers said hours before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Moscow for today's G-8 ministerial meeting...

In New York, U.S. and British diplomats objected to language in a Russian draft resolution that said the Security Council "calls upon the government of Iraq and the Multinational Forces to undertake measures aimed at enhancing the security of foreign diplomatic missions in Iraq and their staff."

Meanwhile, Russia isn't letting the actual killers off the hook:

President Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday ordered Russia's secret services to find and kill those who kidnapped and killed four Russian Embassy employees in Iraq, the Kremlin announced in a statement.

The bluntness of the statement reflected the deep shock and anger — much directed at the United States — that have unfolded in Russia after the kidnapping on June 3 in an attack that killed a fifth Russian.

"The president gave instructions to the Russian special services to take all measures for finding and destroying the criminals who committed this atrocity," the Kremlin said, the official Russian Information Agency reported.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home