#2 - RW 269
BBC
August 14, 2003
Russian press hails missile sting

Moscow papers hail the missile sting operation which some suggest was timed to reassure the American public ahead of the 11 September anniversary.

The leading daily Izvestiya says the arrests in the US were of political and historical significance in terms of international cooperation on security and intelligence.

"The arrest of the arms smugglers is the first joint operation by the special services of Russia, the US and Great Britain in the fight against terrorism since the time of the Cold War," it writes.

The heavyweight broadsheet Nezavisimaya Gazeta says the elaborate operation involving Russia, the US and Britain showed "the international anti-terror coalition in action".

But it is still unclear why the international security services have "decided to go public" on their latest intelligence coup, the paper points out.

It does offer a suggestion about the timing of what it calls "this notorious affair".

The arrests come shortly before the 11 September anniversary, it notes, when the American public are "longing to know what has been done for their security".

Alarm

The mass-circulation Moscow daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets also focuses on the US.

It uses the Russian word "trevoga" - meaning alarm - which it believes best captures the mood of security fears there.

And it is not just the public putting pressure on the US Government to take steps to combat terrorism, the paper says:

"Congress and congressmen are trying to make Bush accept their plans for equipping American passenger aircraft with anti-missile systems, similar to those used on military planes."

The popular daily Trud chooses to highlight Russia's concerns about the link between Igla and Strela missiles and terrorism in Chechnya.

It points a finger of criticism at some of Russia's neighbours who, it says, have failed to support calls from Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov for better security for its Igla missiles, the type seized by the US authorities.

"Strange and without an explanation, Ivanov's initiative did not get the backing of delegates from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine," the Russian paper says.

A report in the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda urges that "security measures should be further bolstered all-round".

But the latest events, it cautions, do not mark a reduction in global terrorism.

"It can be seen and felt that the threat of terrorism has not faded after the fall of Saddam," the paper writes

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