RUSSIA: Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, called yesterday for the UN to spearhead the international fight against terrorism, as he outlined Moscow's vision for the future of an organisation riven by discord over the war in Iraq.
"The international community must create an effective system of international security which would provide reliable protection from terrorism and extremism," Mr Putin said.
"The UN should play the key role in this system." Mr Putin's speech fleshed out recent Kremlin calls for the UN to adapt to the post-Cold War world, after it endured a damaging split over how to disarm Iraq and was eventually ignored by a White House that went to war without UN sanction.
"Our planet is too small, while the level of scientific and technological achievement is so high, that one or several states on their own cannot protect themselves from current threats, given terrorists' possible access to weapons of mass destruction," Mr Putin told an international conference of intelligence and law-enforcement chiefs.
Mr Putin and other leading Russian politicians frequently warned Washington that its focus on toppling President Saddam Hussein was endangering the so-called "international war on terror".
Moscow has long tried to convince the West that it is fighting international terrorists in Chechnya, where separatist rebels are fighting their second war with the Kremlin since 1994. Russia says the guerrillas are backed by radical Islamic groups, including al-Qaida.
Russian security services are also wary of a rise in extremism in the former Soviet states of Central Asia, and Moscow's troops guard the porous border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which is a key transit route for weapons and drugs on their way to the West.
"We are convinced that the UN must play the key role in coordinating anti-terrorist operations," Mr Putin said. "The UN is a place where nations may dovetail their interests and which enables them to make effective decisions in the fight against terrorism."
Russia is also demanding that UN arms inspectors complete their search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before sanctions are lifted.