Terrorist attacks on U.S.: the international reaction (11/11/01)

Terrorist attacks on U.S.: the international reaction

Special from RFE/RL Newsline

Poland hosts anti-terrorist summit

WARSAW - "What afflicted the American nation could afflict any nation. ... We would like to show our solidarity in this fight against evil," Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in Warsaw on November 6 in his opening remarks to an East European summit intended to consolidate regional support for the U.S.-led global campaign against terrorism. The anti-terrorist conference was attended by leaders from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia, as well as officials representing the United States, Russia, Turkey, Belarus, the United Nations, NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The summit was to debate tightening controls on the movement of people, information and finances to make it harder for terrorists to use the region to penetrate into Western Europe and the United States, Reuters reported. Mr. Kwasniewski told the summit that European integration and NATO enlargement should be a response to international terrorism, the PAP news agency reported. "Integration requires acceptance of the same values, principles and procedures, and that means that Europe is really becoming a common continent where all of us enjoy security and development, but also bear responsibility for our lives," he added.

Bush addresses Warsaw summit

WARSAW - Addressing the Warsaw anti-terrorist summit via satellite link, U.S. President George W. Bush likened the fight against terrorism to a new cold war. "Like the Fascists and totalitarians before them, these terrorists, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban regime that supports them, and other terrorist groups across our world, try to impose their radical views through threats and violence," Mr. Bush noted. The U.S. leader said Al-Qaeda operates in more than 60 countries, including some in Central and Eastern Europe. "These terrorist groups seek to destabilize entire nations and regions," he warned. "[The terrorists] are seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation and, eventually, to civilization itself. So, we are determined to fight this evil and fight until we are rid of it," said President Bush.

Kuchma pledges participation in aid

WARSAW - Speaking at the anti-terrorist summit in Warsaw on November 6, President Leonid Kuchma said Ukraine is ready to offer its aviation in a future humanitarian action in Afghanistan, Interfax reported. "One needs to prepare oneself for the next stage of the anti-terrorist operation - rehabilitation of and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people," Mr. Kuchma said. He stressed that the efficient struggle against terrorism needs, apart from united efforts of the global community, a "dialogue of civilizations" which he said should be spearheaded by the United Nations.

Summit adopts anti-terrorist action plan

WARSAW - The anti-terrorist conference of Central, Eastern and Southeastern European leaders in Warsaw concluded with the adoption of a joint declaration and an Action Plan, the PAP news service reported. "We stand by the American nation just as they supported us in our struggle for freedom," the leaders said in the declaration. They also declared their readiness for wider exchange of intelligence data and for cooperation among intelligence services in combating international terrorism. The Action Plan calls for exchanging experiences in the sphere of training of anti-terrorist units and rescue services. It also announces the introduction of a system of monitoring of issues associated with international terrorism. "Today an important signal is coming from Central Europe to terrorists: Central Europe is not a good place for terrorists. You cannot feel safe here," Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, the initiator of the conference, said at a news conference.

Putin warns against 'double standards'

MOSCOW - After his November 6 meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there must not be "a policy of double standards" about terrorism because that could lead to "a split in the common international position," Russian and Western agencies reported. Mr. Putin continued that "there cannot be good and bad terrorists, our terrorists and others. All those who have resorted to arms in order to resolve political disputes, all those organizations, all those structures and individuals who carry out those policies should not be tolerated." The two leaders released a joint statement saying that "terrorism is an absolute evil and represents a global challenge to all mankind," ITAR-TASS reported.

Anthrax confirmed at U.S. Consulate

YEKATERINBURG, Russia - Tests taken to determine whether anthrax was among the mail at the U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg have turned out positive, Interfax-Eurasia reported on November 6. According to the Consulate's press attaché, the tainted mail arrived from Washington on October 25. Of the six mailbags tested, only one revealed the presence of anthrax spores. One Consulate worker is currently taking antibiotics, but has exhibited no symptoms of the disease.

Rumsfeld visits Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

DUSHANBE - U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asked Tajikistan's President Imomali Rakhmonov in Dushanbe on November 3 to make available three further Tajik air bases, including one in Kulyab in southern Tajikistan, for use during the ongoing strikes against Afghanistan, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times reported. Mr. Rakhmonov gave permission for U.S. engineers to assess how much work is required to make the facilities in question operational. ITAR-TASS on November 4 quoted NBC News as reporting that Washington is prepared to offer Dushanbe tens of millions of dollars in aid in return for the use of the bases. Secretary Rumsfeld then traveled to Tashkent, where he discussed the military situation in Afghanistan, bilateral military cooperation and anti-terrorism measures in general with President Islam Karimov and Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov on November 4. According to Reuters, at a press conference following those talks, Mr. Gulyamov said Uzbekistan has not been asked to provide greater support for the strikes against Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has made one air base available for use in humanitarian and search-and-rescue operations.

Poland reviews anti-terrorist measures

WARSAW - Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz on November 5 said that in line with a United Nations resolution last month, the government has asked the ministers of internal affairs, finance, economy and justice to review existing anti-terrorist measures in legislation and to submit reports by the end of November on how to make Poland more secure against terrorism, Polish media reported. Mr. Cimoszewicz also told journalists that nobody has asked Poland to send soldiers to participate in anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan. The foreign minister made this statement following a report in the November 5 issue of The Wall Street Journal that said Poland is to send troops to Afghanistan.

Russia, U.S. prepare Afghan airstrip

MOSCOW - The RBK news service reported on November 5 that the U.S. with Russian help has been improving an airstrip near Sherkat in a region of Afghanistan controlled by the Northern Alliance. The base can now handle not only fighters but also heavy transport aircraft.

U.S., Armenian presidents confer by phone

YEREVAN - U.S. President George W. Bush and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, on October 31 discussed by telephone the counterterrorism effort and also regional issues, including the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Armenian and Russian news services reported. President Bush thanked Armenia for its support of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan, the services said.

Moscow, Washington coordinate policy

MOSCOW - The Russian-American working group on Afghanistan co-chaired by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Russia's First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Viacheslav Trubnikov took place in Moscow on November 1, Russian agencies reported. The meeting occurred behind closed doors, but after the session the two sides released a statement underscoring their agreement on all major issues, including opposition to any participation by the Taliban in a post-Taliban government. Meanwhile, Russian officials the same day denied reports that Russian planes had attacked Afghanistan and that Russian forces will soon go there, ITAR-TASS reported.

Lithuanians find anthrax in U.S. mailbag

VILNIUS - Kazimiera Rutiene, the director of the Lithuanian Public Health Center's Microbiology Laboratory in Vilnius, announced on November 1 that anthrax bacteria has been found in one of five mailbags the U.S. Embassy sent for testing, the BNS news agency reported. The mailbags, which came from the U.S. State Department mail facilities in Washington, were flown to Vilnius on a regular commercial flight and had been picked up at the airport by the U.S. Embassy's postal courier. Medical officials said the incident poses no direct threat to public health in Lithuania since anthrax is not spread by casual personal contact and the small number of people who were in contact with the bags have been prescribed antibiotics and are under medical observation. This is the only reported spreading of anthrax from the United States to Europe, although a diplomatic pouch at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, also was found to contain anthrax.

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