Russia gives green light to Central Asia republics to cooperate with US
( 2001-09-20 11:02 ) (7 )

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told Secretary of State Colin Powell his government would not object to any US efforts to seek anti-terrorism cooperation from the three former Soviet republics that border Afghanistan, a senior State Department official said.

The commitment potentially could open the way for US military cooperation with one or more of the three countries as the United States seeks ways to track down Osama bin Laden and his allies in Afghanistan. They are prime suspects in last week's terror attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

Ivanov's comments reported Wednesday followed a statement by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Sunday that he did not see "any basis for even the hypothetical possibility" of a NATO military presence in Central Asia.

In an apparent attempt to rebut his defense minister colleague, Igor Ivanov said his comments on Central Asia reflected the views of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the senior US official said.

The three countries along the border with Afghanistan are Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Russia exerts heavy influence over all three.

Officials of each country have expressed reservations about allowing US troops on their soil as part of the US-led anti-terror campaign. But Nikolai Sokov, a former Russian diplomat who is an associate at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, said he believes one or more can be persuaded to cooperate with the United States.

Ivanov's meeting with Powell came during a burst of diplomatic activity in Washington. Besides Ivanov, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri met with President George W. Bush, and there also were meetings with the German and Saudi foreign ministers.

The Bush administration has welcomed Sukarnoputri's strong anti-terrorism stand, partly because she represents the world's largest Muslim country. Germany and Saudi Arabia also are seen as vital allies in the effort. The administration believes a diverse coalition, one that includes a number of Muslim countries, would have more political credibility than one limited to Western democracies.

At the Organization of American States, the permanent council approved a resolution declaring that the terrorist attacks last week constituted an attack on all 34 member nations under a common defense pact. The delegates agreed to convene a special meeting of OAS foreign ministers Friday to discuss a response.

The meeting will be held under provisions of the OAS charter and the Inter-American treaty for Reciprocal Assistance, the Western Hemisphere version of NATO.

As for the situation in South Asia, Pakistan, Afghanistan's eastern neighbor, has pledged its full cooperation with the US effort to hunt down bin Laden. President Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday the United States is seeking intelligence cooperation, logistical support and use of Pakistani air space in its quest to eliminate terrorist activity in Afghanistan.

It is not clear how interested the United States is in establishing a presence, alone or with other countries, along Afghanistan's northern border, where the three former Soviet republics are.

Sokov said Tajikistan is the most important of the three because it lies across from the area in Afghanistan controlled by the Northern Alliance, a rebel group opposed to the Taliban movement. The Taliban has controlled most of the country since 1996.

If the United States deploys troops to Afghanistan, "they absolutely will need local help," said Sokov, suggesting that the Northern Alliance could fill that role.

Tajikistan is also home to Russia's 201st military division, the only significant Russia base in Central Asia.

In Washington, Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said after a meeting with Powell that while the world needs to eliminate terrorism, "We can't fight terrorism by being vengeful."

"It is not vengeance that the world wants," Saud said, in an apparent appeal to the United States to use force judiciously in the terrorism fight.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Saud told Powell his government wants to be part of the global anti-terror coalition that Powell has proposed.

He said Saud assured Powell his country recognizes that "the danger is to all of us."

Ivanov and Germany's foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, promised in separate meetings with Powell to contribute to the anti-terror effort.

"The global effort must begin as early as today," Ivanov said. A broad range of options should be considered, he said, including the use of force "when and if it is necessary."

Ivanov said Russia and the United States have not discussed specific actions they may take together in response to the terrorist attacks last week.

Germany's Fischer, who met with President Bush, said after a morning meeting with Powell that Germany is in full solidarity with the American people in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

He said he was not in a position to spell out how far Germany would go in helping the US quest for the perpetrators, but "We do not rule out any option."