Foreign ministry: Russia supports Iraqi government’s anti-extremist efforts

 MOSCOW- Russia supports the Iraqi authorities’ policy of counteracting extremism and condemns terrorism in all its manifestations, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday, according to ITAR TASS.

 “Tensions and armed violence have been augmenting in the recent days in Iraq,” the ministry said. “Acts of terror claiming numerous human lives, including among civilians, are committed practically every day. On January 5 alone, a car blast in Bagdad killed 15 and wounded more than 40 people. Blood shedding armed clashes continue in Anbar Province to the west of the Iraqi capital city. The governmental forces are pushing “Al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants “from the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.”

“Moscow resolutely condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, the Russian foreign ministry stressed. “We think it inadmissible to fan inter-religious hatred. We are confident that the current upsurge of violence in Iraq has religious roots and is linked, first and foremost, with the developments in neighboring Syria.”

“Terrorist from Al Qaeda and other groups linked with it, who are active in Iraq and Syria, know no boundaries, they bring death and suffering to peaceful populations,” the ministry added.

The Russian foreign ministry also stressed that Russia supported the Iraqi government’s policy of fighting against extremism and terrorism and offered practical assistance in this fight. “We are confidents that the most efficient way to rebuff criminal designs lies through the soonest political settlement of the crisis in Syria, through reaching national accord in Iraq in the interests of all political forces and ethnic and religious groups,” the ministry said.

R.S