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28 December 2001 |
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_Id=1930039479 |
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LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will agree to set up a working group to fight terrorism and share intelligence, when they meet for talks later on Friday, a British government source said. "The idea is to formalise and deepen existing intelligence co-operation and indeed other kind of co-operation in the fight against terrorism," the source said. "It is essentially a formalisation of something which is already happening," he said, adding that "the relevant agencies" will be involved. Putin arrived at London's Heathrow airport earlier on Friday and was due to hold talks with Blair at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat, northwest of London, later in the day. The Daily Telegraph, quoting Downing Street sources, said senior officials from the foreign office, ministry of defence and MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, would join their Russian counterparts to help co-ordinate the hunt for prime terror suspect Osama Bin Laden and members of his al-Qaeda network. But Putin is likely to warn Blair, a vocal advocate of the US-led war, against declaring war on Russia's longtime ally Iraq, arguing that the search for Bin Laden and the financial resources of al-Qaeda should take precedence. Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday called on Blair to raise its concerns over human rights abuses in Chechnya, during his talks with Putin. In a statement, the organisation said: "With the spotlight very much on Afghanistan, we cannot let the torture, including rape, and killing of Chechen civilians by the Russian military, go unnoticed. "The Prime Minister must not compromise human rights in the fight against terrorism. He must break the silence on Chechnya." In response, the government source said: "One of the reasons they (Russia) have been 100 per cent supportive of the campaign (against terror) is because they feel very personally on the subject for very obvious reasons." "In our view, respect for human rights and being tough on terrorism are not mutually exclusive. The important thing is to make a distinction between the actions of terrorists and legitimate actions and aspirations of ordinary civilians." Talks between Putin and Blair were also likely to focus on NATO's relations with Moscow and US missile defence. The trip is Putin's first to a Western capital since US President George W Bush announced last week that Washington was formally pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty despite Russian warnings of a threat to global security. The Russian President will reiterate Moscow's determination to save the 30-year-old treaty by reiterating Russia's new-found willingness to modify the pact to accommodate US plans to test a controversial missile defence shield. Britain has given tacit support to the US withdrawal from the ABM treaty while seeming anxious not to get dragged into the controversy, with a Blair spokesman hinting last week that the 1972 treaty was past its sell-by date. Blair and Putin are also expected to discuss warming relations between NATO and Russia, a rapprochement hailed by the British leader as Moscow's reward for coming onside in the fight against terrorism. Once Cold War adversaries, Russia and NATO fell out over Western air strikes against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, but have exploited the post-September 11 thaw to address Kremlin fears of the alliance expanding further into eastern Europe. Two weeks ago Russian and NATO foreign ministers agreed to upgrade relations by May next year with formation of a new council that could enable Moscow and the 19 members of the military alliance to end the dispute over NATO enlargement. Following their meeting, Blair and Putin are to hold a joint press conference at the RAF Halton military base near to the Prime Minister's residence. Russian defence Minister Sergei Ivanov was also due to hold talks on Friday with Britain's foreign secretary Jack Straw. ( AFP )
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