From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Tue Nov 28 2000 - 11:56:26 EST
RUSSIA WANTS STRICTER SANCTIONS SLAPPED ON TALIBAN - FOREIGN MINISTRY
MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Russia views it as necessary to toughen
the international sanctions in place against Afghanistan's Taliban
movement.
Russia took this line during consultations with the UN Secretary
General's personal representative and head of special mission to
Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, in Moscow on November 27-28, says a
Russian Foreign Ministry statement obtained by Interfax on Tuesday.
Vendrell had meetings with First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav
Trubnikov, Deputy Foreign Ministers Alexander Losyukov and Sergei
Ordzhonikidze and a number of Foreign Ministry department heads, the
statement says.
During the series of consultations, the two sides shared their
concerns about the fact that "the international community's constant
efforts at stopping the conflict in Afghanistan have still met with no
success." The meetings' participants spoke in favor of "intensifying the
work to promote a peaceful political settlement in Afghanistan," it
reads.
"The Russian side emphasized that the Taliban movement's support of
international terrorism, which runs counter to the UN Security Council's
requirements, and the Taliban's guilt in turning Afghanistan into a
world drug business center pose a serious [and] increasing threat to
regional and international security and require an appropriate reaction
from the Security Council in the form of tougher sanctions against the
movement," the Foreign Ministry said.
The participants also confirmed the importance of the role the UN
plays in the peacekeeping process in Afghanistan, and emphasized the
need to continue the activity of the "6+2" Group, comprising the six
countries bordering Afghanistan plus the U.S. and Russia, as a useful
mechanism for promoting a settlement in Afghanistan.
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