wrbones
03-20-03, 05:51 PM
Putin calls for halt to Iraq war
Thursday, March 20, 2003 Posted: 7:22 AM EST (1222 GMT)
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• Special Report
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has come out strongly against the U.S.-led coalition attacks on Iraq saying it brings into question the role of international law.
The president said the conflict, which began against Iraq early Thursday, must be halted as soon as possible the Interfax news agency reported him as having told a meeting in the Kremlin.
CNN's Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty said: "He is coming out very strongly on this military action.
"He is saying it is a major political mistake."
He believes there was no reason for military action because the issue of whether Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction had not been answered, Dougherty said. U.N. weapons inspectors had been pulled out of the country earlier this week despite them saying they still had work to do.
The danger of a stronger nation using its fist to settle disputes would undermine international law and its goals, he was quoted by Dougherty as saying.
Putin wants the conflict to be resolved peacefully, especially through the United Nations, he was quoted as saying, and he will work towards that.
Interfax news agency, reporting from the meeting, quoted the president as saying "Iraq posed no threat at the time the operation began."
Putin also is quoted as saying "if we allow the law of the fist to replace international law, by which the strong are always right and has the right to do anything.
"It is not limited in the means it uses to achieve its goals, then one of the basic principles of international law will be called into question -- the principle of the inalienable sovereignty of countries."
The Kremlin Web site quotes the president as saying: "At issue is the resolution of critical issues which humanity in the next few years and the next decade will confront.
"The position of our country is based on unconditional dedication to the United Nations Charter and the basic norms and principles of international law. Russia unquestionably will give preference to peaceful, political-legal methods of solving conflict situations, including proliferation issues."
"The international community simply has no other universal mechanism that each and every country needs," Putin is quoted as saying.
-- CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.
Thursday, March 20, 2003 Posted: 7:22 AM EST (1222 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Special Report
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has come out strongly against the U.S.-led coalition attacks on Iraq saying it brings into question the role of international law.
The president said the conflict, which began against Iraq early Thursday, must be halted as soon as possible the Interfax news agency reported him as having told a meeting in the Kremlin.
CNN's Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty said: "He is coming out very strongly on this military action.
"He is saying it is a major political mistake."
He believes there was no reason for military action because the issue of whether Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction had not been answered, Dougherty said. U.N. weapons inspectors had been pulled out of the country earlier this week despite them saying they still had work to do.
The danger of a stronger nation using its fist to settle disputes would undermine international law and its goals, he was quoted by Dougherty as saying.
Putin wants the conflict to be resolved peacefully, especially through the United Nations, he was quoted as saying, and he will work towards that.
Interfax news agency, reporting from the meeting, quoted the president as saying "Iraq posed no threat at the time the operation began."
Putin also is quoted as saying "if we allow the law of the fist to replace international law, by which the strong are always right and has the right to do anything.
"It is not limited in the means it uses to achieve its goals, then one of the basic principles of international law will be called into question -- the principle of the inalienable sovereignty of countries."
The Kremlin Web site quotes the president as saying: "At issue is the resolution of critical issues which humanity in the next few years and the next decade will confront.
"The position of our country is based on unconditional dedication to the United Nations Charter and the basic norms and principles of international law. Russia unquestionably will give preference to peaceful, political-legal methods of solving conflict situations, including proliferation issues."
"The international community simply has no other universal mechanism that each and every country needs," Putin is quoted as saying.
-- CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.