Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=09/19/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH RUSSIA OVERNIGHT (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-294268

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush meets with the Russian foreign and defense ministers at the White House Friday. VOA's Scott Stearns reports, they will discuss nuclear disarmament and possible U-N action against Iraq.

TEXT: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the meeting is part of the process of reducing U-S and Russian nuclear arsenals by two-thirds under an agreement signed earlier this year in Moscow by President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

/// FLEISCHER ACT ///

The purpose is to discuss the Treaty of Moscow and that certainly will be a topic, but it would not surprise me if the topic of Iraq came up as well.

/// END ACT ///

President Bush last week told the United Nations that it must force Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to give up weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush says Iraq is a threat because he could help terrorists acquire chemical, biological, or nuclear arms.

Russia has substantial business interests in Iraq and its support for a U-N Security Council resolution is crucial as it holds the veto power of a permanent member.

With Britain firmly behind the president's call for tough action against Iraq, Mr. Bush has been lobbying the other permanent members Russia, China, and France.

He says the credibility of the United Nations is on the line as it decides whether a decade of resolutions against Iraq will be violated without consequence. If the U-N fails to act, or Saddam Hussein refuses to allow inspectors, President Bush says the United States is ready to take action against Iraq on its own.

Russian President Putin says he is facing a similar threat in the Pankisi Gorge where Chechen rebels use bases in neighboring Georgia to launch cross-border raids. The Bush Administration has criticized Russia for violating Georgian airspace in bombing raids against the Chechen separatists.

Mr. Fleischer says the president does not equate Russia's problem with Chechnia to what he says is the world's problem with Iraq.

/// SECOND FLEISCHER ACT ///

It's important to fight terrorism and to respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Georgia, unlike what has happened with the United Nations. The United Nations has expressed itself 16 times in its resolutions that Iraq has violated. The United Nations has called on Iraq to disarm. Iraq has failed to do so. While there are other hot spots in the world, none, none are like Iraq, and none present the danger to the region and to the world that Iraq presents.

/// END ACT ///

Georgia says it's army is ill-equipped to deal with Chechen rebels. President Bush says U-S troops are helping train Georgian security forces, and he has asked President Putin to give those forces more time to crackdown on cross-border attacks.(SIGNED)

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