Moscow Blames U.S. for Russian Hostages Death in Iraq

MosNews
Jun. 27, 2006

Russia intends to keep in contact with the coalition forces to determine their level of responsibility in the death of the Russian diplomats earlier kidnapped in Iraq, Russian presidential envoy for international cooperation in fighting terrorism and transnational organized crime Anatoly Safonov quoted by Interfax has said.

“We are saying openly that it is either governmental institutions or coalition forces that are responsible for order,” Safonov told journalists in Moscow on Tuesday.

“First of all — and I hope this will be also said at the UN — we need to emphasize the uniqueness of the situation concerning security in Iraq, express our condemnation of what has happened, and call for drawing conclusions from this,” Safonov said

First Vice-Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Lyubov Sliska, joined Safonov in blaming the coalition.

“We can see how the coalition forces are ’restoring order’,” she said.

“Every day dozens of innocent people are dying, and now diplomats are geting killed, too. The responsibility for what is going on in Iraq lies upon those who sought mass destruction weapons here, but found nothing,” she said.

On Sunday, Arab in an Internet statement an al-Qaida terrorist group in Iraq said it had executed the four employees of the Russian Embassy in revenge for what they claimed was “the torture, killing and expulsion of our brothers and sisters by the infidel Russian government” in Chechnya.