Russia's Lower House of Parliament, Duma, on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging President Vladimir Putin to seek lifting of UN sanctions on Iraq as it condemned the US-British bombing of Baghdad last Friday. The demonstration of force with the use of new generation smart weapons against defenceless people of Iraq by the United States and Britain has become a permanent means of asserting their special role in the world, The Duma resolution tabled by its foreign affairs commitee said. Taking a strong exception to the bombing, it said that the action was taken in the backdrop of provocative anti-Russian rhetoric by certain highly placed officials in the new US administration. The house said that this would complicate the Russian-American dialogue on international security and development of their cooperation. The resolution adopted by 359-2 votes calls for issuing a statement by the Russian president declaring in expediency of further continuation of sanctions on Baghdad in view of repeated unilateral use of force against Iraq by-passing the UN Security Council and catastrophic deterioration of humanitarian situation in that country. It, however rejected an ultra-nationalists' sponsored alternative resolution seeking unilateral lifting of sanctions on Iraq by Moscow.
In the resolution, though non-obligatory for the Kremlin, Duma also urged Putin to seek strengthening of Moscow's influence in West Asia and the Persian Gulf.
Bureau Report