Russia and Central Asia News Digest
President Putin Restates Russian Opposition to Iraq War in State Visit to United Kingdom
Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 24 became the first Russian head of state to visit the United Kingdom since Tsar Alexander II's 1874 visit. He was literally greeted on the red carpet on the tarmac by Prince Charles, which was followed by a seven-carriage ride to Buckingham Palace, where he stayed for four days amidst balls, state dinners, and other state functions. Extraordinary security was added to make certain there was no violence over Chechnya.
On June 25, President Putin, in a speech at Edinburgh University in Scotland, reaffirmed Russia's "No" to the Gulf War, and once again urged the UN to play a central role.
Putin said that Russia neither regrets its opposition to the war, nor would it change its views now, after the war. The problems faced by the occupying powers in Iraq now, underline the necessity to return the entire Iraq issue to the relevant bodies of the United Nations, where it should have remained in the first place, Putin added.
His remarks on the second day of this state visit, notably outside of London, received special attention in the context of ongoing hearings at the House of Commons in London into Prime Minister Tony Blair's manipulations that drew Britain into the war.
Reuters suggested that while in London, President Putin might sign a $6.75-billion deal in which British Petroleum would buy a 50% stake in TNK, Russia's third largest oil company.
Inter-Action Council Calls for Dialogue of Religions and Civilizations
The Inter-Action Council's Moscow meeting on June 23, presided over by former Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov, has made the dialogue of religions and civilizations a crucial part of its agenda. In its 23rd session, the meeting was keynoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
President Putin welcomed the IAC as an "institution of international authority ... whose expertise and statesmanship is very much in demand, at times like these." He said that the IAC includes distinguished personalities who have occupied posts of the highest political and other responsibility, not only in their own country but also on a global scale.
He also made special reference to Helmut Schmidt's remarks about the need for a "dialogue of religions and civilizations," as well as to a new IAC initiative, calling on leading politicians throughout the world to make sure that religious differences never take control of politics. President Putin said he agreed with Schmidt, that it is the responsibility of political leaders to ensure such a dialogue. He added that the United Nations was the central forum of global exchange on such issues, and that the UN requires a reform to ensure that the "threat of unilateralism" could be contained efficiently.
On June 26, the final day of the meeting, Helmut Schmidt was the featured speaker at the Council's Defense and Foreign Policy Council. The theme of his lecture was "Problems of a Global World and Russia."
Russian news services previewing the event, highlighted Schmidt's role and his initiating impulse for creating the European Currency Union together with France's then-President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, during his chancellorship in the late 1970s. "Mr. Schmidt has always advocated closer relations with Russia," stressed one report, and he never "succumbed to U.S. demands to limit the supply of Soviet gas to Germany and Western Europe, during the Cold War period in the 1980s."
"Thanks to Mr. Schmidt, economic ties between the U.S.S.R. and the West were strengthened, and these ties are the foundation of Russia-EU relations, today," noted the account.
Russian Analyst Recommends 'World of Sovereign Nation-States' and LaRouche July 2 Webcast
Sergei Kara-Murza, a respected scientist and political analyst from the nationalist camp in Russia, posted a bulletin on his Internet forum on June 23, advising visitors to his site that Lyndon LaRouche's article, "A World of Sovereign Nation-States," is now available in Russian. The announcement was copied directly from a message sent by EIR to contacts throughout Russia, and included both the link to the article's location on the Russian site (www.larouchepub.com/lar/), and the time and access information for LaRouche's upcoming July 2 webcast.
A lively discussion ensued on the Kara-Murza forum, about two questions: 1) whether LaRouche "has a chance," or will be overrun as those in opposition to the Nazis were; and, 2) whether or not all American leaders of the past century have been imperialist, including FDR and Bill Clinton. In addition, one participant objected to LaRouche's having anything good to say about Tudor England.
Gennadi Gerasimov Hits Vice President Dick Cheney as 'Eminence Grise' of Globalists
Gennadi Gerasimov, a senior Russian journalist specializing in U.S. and strategic affairs, highlights Vice President Dick Cheney's role, in particular in directing the new "imperial" line in U.S. policy, in a series of articles published in New Times (Russian edition, Novoye Vremya). One of the latest appeared in issue number 24 of the Russian edition, under the headline, "The Grey Cardinal of the White House: Richard Cheney, the man who made himself Vice President."
Gerasimov reviewed Cheney's rise to an unprecedented policy-making role for a U.S. Vice President, focussing on the Cheney-Rumsfeld relationship over the past 35 years. Today, he wrote, "It may be that President George Bush delegates intellectual work to Cheney, feeling that it's beyond him, plus he has no taste for it."
In some detail, Gerasimov laid out the Cheney gambit of 1989-91, when he and Zalmay Khalilzad advocated "directing events in such a way, as to prevent the emergence of a second superpower on the international sceneusing force, if necessary." He also included a section on Cheney's sweetheart deals, arranged for Halliburton with the Pentagon. In Iraq, Halliburton was positioned for a multibillion-dollar contract to douse oilfield fires, which turned into a mere $50-million deal because "Saddam Hussein wrecked it by not setting the oilfields on fire."
All of his previous pursuits, Gerasimov noted, Cheney is now implementing as Vice President. "In his new post, Cheney has returned to his old ideas about the leading role of the USA the world, and the impermissibility of the emergence of a rival. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 made the fight against international terrorism into concern number one. For Cheney, this is combined with getting rid of regimes the USA doesn't like." The Russian author pointed to Cheney's tendency towards flight forward, as in July 2002, when he stated that inspections in Iraq were pointless, even though U.S. policy at that time was to support inspections.
Gerasimov wrote that Secretary of State Colin Powell "stands somewhat aloof" from "neo-conservative" Cheney and the latter's allies like Rumsfeld and "the especially 'hawkish' Wolfowitz," and "attempts to slightly better Uncle Sam's image in the world."
An earlier article by Gerasimov, analyzing the "Axis of Evil" doctrine proclaimed early in President Bush's January 2002 State of the Union, was titled "USA: The Fourth Rome." Gennadi Gerasimov has benefitted from several decades of writing about the United States, including a 1970s-80s posting in New York City, during which he was a regular recipient of updates from the staff of EIR and Lyndon LaRouche.
Lukoil Will Drill Oil in Egypt
On June 25 in Cairo, Egypt, representatives of Russia's Lukoil petroleum giant signed a number of agreements allowing Lukoil Overseas to explore and extract oil in two major oil provinces of Egypt, Northeast Geisum and West Geisum.
Lukoil had already been participating in two other projectsin West Esh el Malaha, on the coastline of the Red Sea, and in Meleiha, in the Libyan desert. The first of the two oilfields was purchased by Lukoil along with its owner, Baitec-Silur, in 2001.
The tender for Geisum was won by Lukoil in early 2003. This victory (in a competition including 38 companies) is already approved by the Parliament and the Oil Ministry of Egypt. The Russian company is also welcome to participate in other tenders, said Oil Minister Samed Fahmi.
Russian No-Confidence Vote Fails, Seen as Non-Constructive
A no-confidence vote in the government of Russian Prime Minister Kasyanov, initiated by the Communist Party of Russia and the liberal Yabloko faction on grounds of economic policy failures, failedbut did get more support than expected. The vote was promoted not by two factions, as expected, but by three factions of the State Duma.
On June 25, the State Duma held the vote. Unexpectedly, the anti-Kasyanov effort was also joined by the flamboyant Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia factionalthough Zhirinovsky emphasized that his initiative was "independent" of the other factions. As a result, the number of votes against the Kasyanov government reached 172, less than the 226 needed for a no-confidence vote. However, the strength of the opposition to the government came as a surprise to many in the Russian media.
Factions which voted in defense of the government defended it rather weakly. Vyacheslav Volodin, representing United Russia, actually did not even defend Kasyanov. He argued, however, that on the eve of the Duma elections, a no-confidence vote was not constructive. Boris Nemtsov, head of the Rightist Alliance faction, as usual opposed Yabloko and CPRF, interpreting the no-confidence initiative as a "pre-election farce." However, his speech ended with a statement, "We can't take part in this performance," and with these words, the faction abstained, instead of supporting Kasyanov.
It was only the so-called "President's party," United Russia, which saved Kasyanov from total humiliation. Had President Putin's party voted against Kasyanov, the no-confidence vote would have succeeded. Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Kasianov had a private meeting in St. Petersburg.
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