ISIS Militants in Iraq, Syria Have WMD Components, Lavrov Warns UN Security Council
30 Sep, 2015 15:00
Rt.com
"In the vast areas of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State has actually created an extremist quasi-state, which commands an efficient repressive apparatus, stable sources of income, well-equipped army and elements of weapons of mass destruction,” Lavrov said on Wednesday at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York.
UNSC foreign ministers gathered to debate issues of international security and terror threats, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the Russian FM, the situation in the Middle East has “degraded even more” over the past year.
“The accumulation of crisis potential came close to the point where we can talk about the destruction of the political map of the region,” he said.
Lavrov stressed that Russia considers it necessary to put Islamic State on the UN Security Council's anti-terrorist sanction list as “a separate subject.”
"Any delay in settling this evident issue is becoming counterproductive from the point of view of effectiveness of UN activities in counteraction of terrorism," he said.
Moscow will submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on a joint international effort against the Islamic State threat.
"Today, I present a draft resolution to the members of the Security Council. It is based on documents previously adopted by the Council, with an emphasis on coherent counter-terrorism actions based on norms and principles of international law," Lavrov told the gathering.
The Russian FM also pointed out that the migrant crisis in Europe can’t be solved without the creation of “a firm barrier to the aspirations of Islamic State to place the region under a medieval dictate."
"It is not refugees that must be stopped, but terrorists and wars and conflicts begetting them," he added.
The Russian Air Force conducted first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday, with Lavrov saying that Moscow informed its Western partners of its actions.
"We have notified the US authorities and other members of the coalition created by the US and we are ready to establish permanent channels of communication to effectively combat terrorist groups," he said.
The FM stressed the Russia’s involvement in Syria will be “exclusively” limited by an air operation.
On Wednesday morning, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament unanimously gave formal consent to President Putin to use the country’s military in Syria to tackle Islamic State and other terror groups.
The Russian air campaign in Syria is commencing just a few days after Putin’s address at the UN, in which he called for an international anti-terrorist effort in the country.
The Russian president also met with US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly, with the two leaders agreeing that Moscow and Washington have common interest in Syria.
Lavrov: IS Has Created Extremist Quasi-state in Iraq and Syria
September 30, 21:56 UTC+3
IS cells are establishing themselves in Libya, Afghanistan and other countries and openly declaring they have plans for seizing Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Russian Foreign Minister says
UNITED NATIONS, September 30. /TASS/. The terrorist group calling itself Islamic State has created what in fact is an extremist quasi-state on vast territories in Iraq and Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the UN Security Council’s session entitled Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Settlement of Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and Countering the Terrorist Threat in the Region.
"Rampage by Jabhat al-Nusra and Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb countries, the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, Somalia’s Al Shabaab and Boko Haram and other groups have paled into insignificance against the expansion of the so-called Islamic State. On vast territories of Iraq and Syria the IS has in fact created an extremist quasi state having a well-oiled repressive machinery, stable sources of incomes, well-equipped army and elements of weapons of mass destruction. IS cells are establishing themselves in Libya, Afghanistan and other countries and openly declaring they have plans for seizing Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem and spreading their ominous activities to Europe, Central and Southeast Asia and Russia," Lavrov said.
"The terrorists have been carrying out mass executions and atrocities. They jeopardize the very existence of various ethnic and confessional groups, including Christians, Kurds and Alawites. The IS has a professional propaganda machinery operating in a dozen languages," Lavrov said.
Fight against extremism in concrete countries over the head of their governments is inadmissible, it must be based on international law, Russian Foreign Minister went on to say.
"We believe it is as a matter of fundamental importance to see the initiative advanced in this sphere at the moment basing on a strong foundation of international law, respect for sovereignty and equality of the states, inadmissibility of interference in internal affairs," the foreign minister said.
"It is impossible to promote slogans of fight against extremism in concrete countries behind the back of their legitimate governments. We have already seen such attempts, and nothing good came of them as you know well," Lavrov added.
Сomprehensive approach to terrorism in Middle East needed
Problems of terrorism in the Middle East require a comprehensive approach while the attempts to cure separate conflicts independently are doomed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued.
"It was exactly a year ago that Russia raised the issue of a UN-sponsored all-round analysis of the problems related to a sharp surge of terrorism and extremism in the Middle East and North Africa," Lavrov said. "But over the past twelve months the situation degenerated further."
"Accumulation of the crisis potential has approached a line beyond which we would have to talk about the meltdown of the region’s political map that took shape decades ago," he said.
"One can state with assuredness today the attempts to tackle separate conflicts in an isolated way, without putting them into regional and historical contexts are doomed," Lavrov said. "Iraq received this kind of treatment sometime in the past and then came Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria and every time we tried to convince each other that everything would be in the proper places once we resolved a particular well-specified problem."
Along with it, Lavrov said solutions were most typically sought in a change of one or another regime at whatever price. "Little thought was given to the aftermaths and there was no all-embracing strategy or even short-term vision of two or three steps ahead," he said.
"As a result, the euphoria that filled many heads after the ‘Arab spring’ gave way to the horrors of a brisk spread of chaos, an escalation of violence, the shadow of religious wars looming over the region and, last but not least, an unprecedented terrorist threat," Lavrov said.
Rt.com
"In the vast areas of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State has actually created an extremist quasi-state, which commands an efficient repressive apparatus, stable sources of income, well-equipped army and elements of weapons of mass destruction,” Lavrov said on Wednesday at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting in New York.
UNSC foreign ministers gathered to debate issues of international security and terror threats, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the Russian FM, the situation in the Middle East has “degraded even more” over the past year.
“The accumulation of crisis potential came close to the point where we can talk about the destruction of the political map of the region,” he said.
Lavrov stressed that Russia considers it necessary to put Islamic State on the UN Security Council's anti-terrorist sanction list as “a separate subject.”
"Any delay in settling this evident issue is becoming counterproductive from the point of view of effectiveness of UN activities in counteraction of terrorism," he said.
Moscow will submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on a joint international effort against the Islamic State threat.
"Today, I present a draft resolution to the members of the Security Council. It is based on documents previously adopted by the Council, with an emphasis on coherent counter-terrorism actions based on norms and principles of international law," Lavrov told the gathering.
The Russian FM also pointed out that the migrant crisis in Europe can’t be solved without the creation of “a firm barrier to the aspirations of Islamic State to place the region under a medieval dictate."
"It is not refugees that must be stopped, but terrorists and wars and conflicts begetting them," he added.
The Russian Air Force conducted first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Wednesday, with Lavrov saying that Moscow informed its Western partners of its actions.
"We have notified the US authorities and other members of the coalition created by the US and we are ready to establish permanent channels of communication to effectively combat terrorist groups," he said.
The FM stressed the Russia’s involvement in Syria will be “exclusively” limited by an air operation.
On Wednesday morning, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament unanimously gave formal consent to President Putin to use the country’s military in Syria to tackle Islamic State and other terror groups.
The Russian air campaign in Syria is commencing just a few days after Putin’s address at the UN, in which he called for an international anti-terrorist effort in the country.
The Russian president also met with US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly, with the two leaders agreeing that Moscow and Washington have common interest in Syria.
Lavrov: IS Has Created Extremist Quasi-state in Iraq and Syria
September 30, 21:56 UTC+3
IS cells are establishing themselves in Libya, Afghanistan and other countries and openly declaring they have plans for seizing Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Russian Foreign Minister says
UNITED NATIONS, September 30. /TASS/. The terrorist group calling itself Islamic State has created what in fact is an extremist quasi-state on vast territories in Iraq and Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the UN Security Council’s session entitled Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Settlement of Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and Countering the Terrorist Threat in the Region.
"Rampage by Jabhat al-Nusra and Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb countries, the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, Somalia’s Al Shabaab and Boko Haram and other groups have paled into insignificance against the expansion of the so-called Islamic State. On vast territories of Iraq and Syria the IS has in fact created an extremist quasi state having a well-oiled repressive machinery, stable sources of incomes, well-equipped army and elements of weapons of mass destruction. IS cells are establishing themselves in Libya, Afghanistan and other countries and openly declaring they have plans for seizing Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem and spreading their ominous activities to Europe, Central and Southeast Asia and Russia," Lavrov said.
"The terrorists have been carrying out mass executions and atrocities. They jeopardize the very existence of various ethnic and confessional groups, including Christians, Kurds and Alawites. The IS has a professional propaganda machinery operating in a dozen languages," Lavrov said.
Fight against extremism in concrete countries over the head of their governments is inadmissible, it must be based on international law, Russian Foreign Minister went on to say.
"We believe it is as a matter of fundamental importance to see the initiative advanced in this sphere at the moment basing on a strong foundation of international law, respect for sovereignty and equality of the states, inadmissibility of interference in internal affairs," the foreign minister said.
"It is impossible to promote slogans of fight against extremism in concrete countries behind the back of their legitimate governments. We have already seen such attempts, and nothing good came of them as you know well," Lavrov added.
Сomprehensive approach to terrorism in Middle East needed
Problems of terrorism in the Middle East require a comprehensive approach while the attempts to cure separate conflicts independently are doomed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued.
"It was exactly a year ago that Russia raised the issue of a UN-sponsored all-round analysis of the problems related to a sharp surge of terrorism and extremism in the Middle East and North Africa," Lavrov said. "But over the past twelve months the situation degenerated further."
"Accumulation of the crisis potential has approached a line beyond which we would have to talk about the meltdown of the region’s political map that took shape decades ago," he said.
"One can state with assuredness today the attempts to tackle separate conflicts in an isolated way, without putting them into regional and historical contexts are doomed," Lavrov said. "Iraq received this kind of treatment sometime in the past and then came Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria and every time we tried to convince each other that everything would be in the proper places once we resolved a particular well-specified problem."
Along with it, Lavrov said solutions were most typically sought in a change of one or another regime at whatever price. "Little thought was given to the aftermaths and there was no all-embracing strategy or even short-term vision of two or three steps ahead," he said.
"As a result, the euphoria that filled many heads after the ‘Arab spring’ gave way to the horrors of a brisk spread of chaos, an escalation of violence, the shadow of religious wars looming over the region and, last but not least, an unprecedented terrorist threat," Lavrov said.
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