Thursday, March 27, 2003
US may 'fabricate' WMD evidence in Iraq: Russia
Press Trust of India Moscow, March 26
Russia on Wednesday expressed concern that Washington could fabricate evidence of Iraq allegedly hiding its weapons of mass destruction in an effort to justify the US-led attack on Baghdad.
Speaking before the Federation Council (Russian Upper House) on Wednesday Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov cautioned Washington and London that Moscow is not going to trust their claims of finding evidence of WMD in Iraq.
"Even if the American-British forces report that they have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the final assessment of their origin can be given only by international inspectors," Ivanov said.
"No other assessments (WMD evidence) can lead to a final conclusion, this is the understanding within the framework of the UN Security Council," Ivanov said.
Earlier, similar apprehensions were voiced by the former deputy chief of the Russian Defence Staff Gen (retd) Valery Manilov and Iraqi ambassador in Moscow Abbas Khalaf in the wake of US Gen Tommy Franks and US ambassador Alexander Vershbow's statements that the US would produce the evidence of Iraqi WMD.
When asked by NTV channel on Tuesday that coalition troops are inside Iraq for the fifth day and have not found any Iraqi WMD, the US ambassador Vershbow said they will soon find this evidence.
Iraqi Ambassador to Russia in an interview to the same channel, did not rule out the use of chemical or other weapons of mass destruction by the US-led coalition forces to later pin the blame on Baghdad.
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