U.S., Russia Delay Nuclear Weapons Treaty (standing on the threshold of World War III)

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian lawmakers postponed indefinitely a vote Tuesday to ratify a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty, as the parliament speaker warned that a war against Iraq could endanger the pact.

The treaty, agreed to last May by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Bush, requires that the two nations cut their strategic nuclear arsenals by about two-thirds, to 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads each, by 2012.

The treaty was seen as more advantageous to Russia than the now-defunct START II agreement, which specifically banned Russia from deploying land-based missiles with multiple warheads. The new deal would leave it to each nation to decide which weapons it will scrap. That would let Russia keep its Soviet-built multiwarhead SS-18 and SS-19 missiles at the core of its nuclear arsenal.

Russia's lower house, the State Duma, had been expected to take up debate on the treaty Friday. But the Duma Council, which sets the legislative agenda, put off the vote indefinitely and did not set a new date.

``We consider ratification very important, but now this step is not justified,'' said Sergei Shishkaryov, the deputy chairman of the Duma's international affairs committee. He added that ``in essence, we are standing on the threshold of World War III.''

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty earlier this month, a move widely seen as part of a diplomatic effort to win Russian support for a tougher line against Iraq. But Russia opposed a U.S.-backed draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council threatening the use of force against Iraq.

President Bush has abandoned diplomatic efforts at the United Nations and given Saddam Hussein until Wednesday night to leave the country or face war.

``In the event of an American strike on Iraq the fate of the entire treaty will be in question,'' Gennady Seleznyov, speaker of the Duma, said during a visit to the Czech capital, Prague.

``The Americans are striking at international law,'' he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Tuesday's postponement reflected the ambivalence of post-Cold War Russian-U.S. relations. Washington and Moscow have pursued closer ties, but the Kremlin bridles at what it regards as a U.S. penchant for unilateral action, such as its withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.

``Let them know there is a serious nuclear power that will really provide for the security of the entire world community and will never allow itself to act by the laws of the jungle,'' Interfax quoted Seleznyov as saying.

Other lawmakers cautioned their colleagues against making rash decisions that could imperil the nuclear treaty and strain the overall U.S.-Russian relationship.

Sergei Mironov, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, called the decision to put off ratification a mistake.

``This treaty plays an important strategic role for both Russia and the United States,'' Mironov said, according to the Interfax-Military news agency reported.

The Russians have there own little problems...when it comes to knocking off ragheads, they are pretty good at it, themselves.

'Lawless' Russian actions reflect mounting frustration Self-criticism and even an apology follow last week's sweep of two Chechen towns.

By Scott Peterson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

MOSCOW

The plan seemed simple, when Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out a new strategy six months ago to end the protracted war in Chechnya.

He would radically reduce the number of Russian troops there. And he passed the task of destroying remaining Chechen rebels from the Army to the Federal Security Service (FSB) - successor to the KGB.

But the plan did not pan out. Today, Russia is more mired than ever in the breakaway republic. Senior officials are reeling from the fallout of a "mopping up" security sweep in two villages in western Chechnya last week. And the public is again questioning the government's human rights abuses in Chechnya.

"It is clear that Putin has the political will to carry on," says Oksana Atonenko, the Russia and Eurasia director at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "For [Mr. Putin], the endgame is that Chechnya disappears from the front pages." But talk of that endgame is premature, she adds, because throughout the stalemate of the past year - even as Russian forces officially endure 150 deaths a month to rebel mines and ambushes - Moscow has done little to create institutions and enforce rules that can guarantee the safety of civilians.

"What Russian forces are doing there is totally lawless," Ms. Antonenko says. "[Putin] really personally believes that all Chechens who take part in this war should be eliminated. Period."

Russian troops conducted security sweeps on the villages of Assinovskaya and Sernovodsk July 3 and 4, after five Russian policemen were killed by a mine in the area. More than 1,000 Chechen men and boys were detained, beaten, and robbed - with some tortured with electrical current - during the operation.

Russian troops and police regularly carry out such sweeps, known as zachistki, ostensibly to check identity documents and weed rebels out of the population. In the past, they have led to the deaths of detainees. But the scale of the latest operation drew unexpected outcry.

In an almost unheard of self-criticism of troop activities, Russia's top military chief in Chechnya, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi, spoke of "widespread crimes in carrying out passport checks" in the two villages. Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him telling officers that the search was carried out "in lawless fashion, laying the place to waste and then pretending they knew nothing about it."

In a bid to prevent four local pro-Moscow administrators from quitting over the searches, Viktor Kazantsev, the Kremlin envoy to the region, issued a rare public apology for the abuses, and asked them for forgiveness.

Though Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov said the sweeps were "tough but necessary," and conducted legally, Mr. Kazantsev promised that the Russian forces responsible for the incidents would be punished by Monday.

The Moscow-appointed officials detail troop abuses including the stealing of $2,000 meant for teachers' pay, and the tossing of grenades into school classrooms during the recent raids. Not one rebel was captured, and no weapons were found, says Akhmad Kadyrov, the pro-Russian administrator of Chechnya. "The counter-terrorist operation is now directed against the peaceful population, not the bandits," Mr. Kadyrov said. "Our efforts to help stability and create conditions for the return of refugees have been thwarted by ill-conceived and criminal actions."

Local human rights groups say robbery was a key component for poorly paid Russian troops. Refugees describe a pricing system of bribes. Residents with their papers in order were charged 200 rubles - about $6 - for their freedom. Non-residents paid from 500 to 1,000 rubles.

"It seems [senior officials] are unable to keep this lawlessness under control, because there is no punishment for any crime," says Tatyana Kasatkina, director of the Russian human rights groups Memorial in Moscow.

The result is unaccountability that continues to undermine any solution to the Chechen conflict. "Do not try to find any decisions to organize such zachistki at the top level," says Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist with the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Moscow, who often works in Chechnya. "They did not do it. The decision that they made was to permit the Army to do anything in Chechnya," Ms. Politkovskaya says. "The top brass believes that the best way to 'pacify' Chechnya is regular use of 'deterrent' actions."

Putin last year was widely quoted as vowing to go after Chechen rebels and "rub them out in the outhouse." Broader issues of accountability on the battlefield must be dealt with first, experts say, if any future peace is to be made and stick. And in Russia - where, Chechnya aside, legal reform is still a work-in-progress - hopes aren't high of quick improvement.

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