----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 12:11 AM Subject: Pot Calling The Kettle Black? STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG "It is hardly appropriate for those who rained hundreds of thousands of bombs and rockets on the residents of Yugoslavia and who continue bombing women, children and old people in Iraq...to raise the issue of Chechen humanitarian suffering." _____________________________________ Russia Roars At Washington Over Chechnya MOSCOW, Feb 19, 2000 -- (Reuters) Russia roared angrily back at the United States on Friday over criticism of its Chechnya campaign, saying comments by a U.S. State Department spokesman were tantamount to aiding "information terrorism". In a strongly-worded statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said State Department spokesman James Rubin's remarks about the Chechnya campaign made at a Thursday briefing were "absolutely unacceptable, both in form and content". The quarrel came amid new reports from human rights groups that Russian forces in Chechnya had beaten, raped and summarily executed civilians suspected of aiding separatist rebels in Chechnya. Rubin had called the reports "credible" and said Moscow should investigate them. He also accused Russia of denying reporters access to the war zone. Russia has denied that its forces in Chechnya have carried out systematic abuses and says it will check all reports. Russia places strict limits on the travel of journalists and foreign observers to Chechnya, but says it does so for their safety. "Rubin, operating on clearly tendentiously selected reports, and even blatant disinformation supplied by the terrorists themselves among others, speculates on 'credible reports of the killings of civilians and other violations'," the Foreign Ministry statement said. "In fact, this is tantamount to cooperating in a campaign of information terrorism." On Thursday Russia denounced talks in Washington between a visiting Chechen representative and State Department officials. "POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK" The statement said the United States had no right to criticize Russia's conduct in Chechnya after last year's NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia and amid continuing air strikes on Iraq, which Russia strongly opposes. "In this connection, one would like to remind Mr Rubin of his own favorite phrase: 'the pot should not call the kettle black'. "It is hardly appropriate for those who rained hundreds of thousands of bombs and rockets on the residents of Yugoslavia and who continue bombing innocent women, children and old people in Iraq...to raise the issue of Chechen humanitarian suffering." The sharp exchange over Chechnya came at a time when Russia and the United States are taking public steps to thaw relations that have been at their iciest since the Cold War. A separate Foreign Ministry statement issued on Friday said the head of Russia's advisory Security Council, visiting Washington, had handed U.S. President Bill Clinton a note from Acting President Vladimir Putin calling for warm ties. "The message...notes that relations with the United States are one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy. Unfortunately, in recent times irritants and mutual pretensions have appeared in Russian-American relations," it said. "But the main element has been preserved: the understanding of the strategic importance of cooperation between the two countries for the fate of the world in the 21st century." ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
