MILITARY POTENTIAL OF TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN PARTIALLY RESTORED, SAYS RUSSIAN MINISTER

MUNICH, February 7 (RIA Novosti corr. Alexei Berezin) - The military potential of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and Pakistan is partially restored, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Saturday at the 40th Munich conference on issues of security. He delivered a report called "Issues of international security in the context of Russia-NATO relations." "We are observing activation of international terrorist structures, passing of Al Qaeda cells first of all into the Middle East, partial restoration of the military potential of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Ivanov said.

He said Iraq's territory became the center of attraction for representatives of terrorist groups from the Middle East, a "real magnet for terrorists." "I believe Russia-NATO partnership is called upon to contribute to that the use of force in international relations, including in the fight against international terrorism, take place strictly in line with international law. The fight against terrorism must be part of efforts to maintain the civilized nature of modern international relations," Ivanov said. Terrorism can't be fought against by unlawful means, he said.

Sergei Ivanov called the issue of whether unilateral actions on the part of a state or a group of states beyond the UN mandate on the use of force are acceptable one of the major questions of the modern system of international relations, first of all, for fighting international terrorism.