- St. Petersburg -- Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned the US-led coalition not to attack
other countries under the pretext of promoting capitalist and democratic
values after having defeated Iraq's dictatorial regime.
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- "We are not going to export capitalist, democratic
revolutions," the Russian leader told reporters as rumours in Washington
allege that some elements of the US administration are mulling launching
military operations against other Middle Eastern states.
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- "If we do, we're going to end up on a slippery slope
to non-ending military conflicts. We can't let that happen," Putin
said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
and French President Jacques Chirac after holding talks with them.
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- Following the demise of the Iraqi regime, top US officials
have issued a series of warnings to Syria, which now fears it might be
next in line for a new US strike in the Middle East.
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- US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday
warned Damascus about giving aid to remnants of the Iraqi regime.
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- Rumsfeld accused Syria of helping "senior regime
people out of Iraq and into Syria" and of continuing to provide Iraqi
forces with equipment despite previous warnings.
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- And US President George W Bush asked Syria for its "total
cooperation" in closing its border with neighboring Iraq and turning
over to the United States former dignitaries of Saddam Hussein's regime
who may have found shelter on its territory.
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