Russia uneasy about US plans
Posted: Wednesday, September 19, 2001
There are signs that Russia is becoming uneasy about United States plans for military retaliation against Afghanistan for harbouring Osama bin Laden - named by the Americans as the chief suspect of last week's attacks in the United States.
The head of the Russian Security Council, Vladimir Rushailo, has said that any action would have to be within international law and avoid civilian casualties.
Mr Rushailo was speaking in Kazakhstan, on the first leg of a tour of five Central Asian states to discuss the threat from international terrorism.
The Kazakh foreign minister, Yerlan Idrisov, said Kazakhstan would fully cooperate with the United States but said such cooperation would be in close contact with Moscow.
Mr Rushailo then travelled to Uzbekistan, which has said it might allow American forces to use its territory to attack Afghanistan. The BBC Moscow correspondent says Russia fears this might be the beginning of a long-term American military presence in what it considers to be its own backyard.
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