Head of Russian Orthodox Church is Upset over "Hegemony of One Power" in World Community

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II is upset over the "hegemony of one power" which is observed in the world community. He stated this at the meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iraq to Russia Abbas Halaf.

If the USA begins war operations against Iraq "civilians who are not in the least involved in the conflict and want to see their future without a war will perish", the head of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized. "Old people, women and children will suffer first of all", he said.

The Patriarch recalled that "the so-called 'pinpoint strikes' of the NATO aviation in Yugoslavia caused death of civilians and destruction of national holy places". "Furthermore, these 'pinpoint strikes' often did not attain military targets at all - civilian facilities were affected by them", he noted.

Alexy II also pointed out that war operations in Iraq can adversely affect the situation in the Middle East as a whole. "Many nationalities professing different religions live in that region, and the interests of many states are intertwined there", he stressed.