Worried by Mideast, Russia Urges Action on Militants

Russia said on Tuesday it was "extremely concerned" by escalating violence in the Middle East and urged Palestinian leaders to stop extremists wrecking any political settlement.

"The Palestinian leadership must take tough measures against extremist political organisations to prevent them from upsetting steps towards a political settlement," Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.

Russia is co-sponsor, along with the United States, of the collapsed Middle East peace process.

Ivanov's comments, on the sidelines of an international security conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest, came as the foreign ministry in Moscow expressed grave concern over the dramatic turn of events in the Palestinian territories.

Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko called on Israel to show "wisdom and self-restraint" and avoid measures that could make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict irreversible. "Despite the weight of the tragedy and the complexity of the current situation, we believe force cannot resolve the accumulated problems," he said.

Tit-for-tat responses would lead only to a dead end, he said, urging both sides to implement a plan devised by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell envisaging a truce, cooling-off period and confidence-building measures, including a freeze in Jewish settlement construction.

Sergei Markov, foreign policy analyst for the Kremlin-linked website strana.ru, said Moscow's stance was becoming increasingly pro-Israeli.

He explained this by Israel's support for Russia's crackdown against militants in its rebel Chechnya province, Moscow's support for the war on terrorism and the close personal, political and business ties with Israeli elites. More than one million Jews from the former Soviet Union now live in Israel. "

If there is no civil war against terror groups (led by Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority), there will be a just war of Israel against the Palestinians," said Markov. "And in this war, Israel will be supported by the United States, Russia and partly by rightist Europeans."

Irina Zviagelskaya, Middle East expert at Moscow's Institute of Oriental Studies, said resolving the Palestinian problem was key to the international fight against terrorism, and violence would only fuel extremism.

"What is really needed, despite the fact that the situation is going from bad to worse, is a new sort of behind the scenes cooperation between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority", aimed at agreeing on what can and cannot be done.

"There is no other way out as violence by Israel will give birth to further violence from the suicide bombers."

Destroying Arafat politically could mean he is replaced by Islamic extremists who have no desire for a political agreement with Israel, she said. //Reuters

Sergei Markov, foreign policy analyst for the Kremlin-linked website strana.ru, said Moscow's stance was becoming increasingly pro-Israeli.

It seems the earlier report of Russia siding with Arafat was highly exaggerated.

This could well be nothing more than posturing by Russia, purely for public consumption. Behind the scenes the Kremlin continues to be tight with the PA, Syria, and Iraq. How can we blindly assume they are really our friends? Actions speak much louder than words.

Put me down as another who continues to be suspicious of Russia. Putin seems alright thus far, but I don't get this side of Russia that seems to always want to be competetive with the U.S. in a way that involves serious threats, such as Iraq. We'll see what Russia does in the future. Britain is now our staunchest ally. Our former adversary and motherland has become our staunchest ally. We'll see how Russia goes, but certain positions and actions are not helpful.

Yup, tight with the PA...right!!! That's why Arafat has gotten all that backing for declaring a state every time he has gone to Russia...right... /sarcasm.

But Russian certainly helps out all the nation states who quietly support a number of Palestinian interests, do they not? How can you deny the support overtly given to Iran, Syria and Iraq? It becomes ever more clear that Arafat plays both sides of the fence - acting as if the PA are in opposition to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc, when in point of fact such groups constitute his shadow military. So, by definition, Arafat relies on Moscow's proxies for his true power. The only sad thing is that the US still gives aid to the PA, helping to craft what is sure to become a very nasty situation for both Israel and the US. Pathetic.

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