Russia Can "Do a Lot" to Find Peaceful Settlement for Iraq

World community puts great confidence in Russia that has an opportunity to greatly contribute to the peaceful solution of the Iraqi problem, said outstanding Danish peace activist, head of the International Peace Fund Jan Oberg, at a meeting with journalists in Tokyo on Monday.

Commenting on his two-week visit to Iraq this month, Oberg said that the country's people were in an extremely difficult position and any military action would only result in further aggravation of the situation.

Oberg called on the USA and its allies not to authorise force in settling current problems and to make everything possible so that UN inspectors could easily and professionally continue their work in Iraq. They should work for as long as it is necessary to find out the exact situation in the country, he emphasized.

Oberg believes it necessary to urgently set up a permanent international fund to solve Iraq's problem with obligatory participation of such countries as Russia, China and, maybe, Japan.

Only multilateral negotiations will help find a way out of the current dangerous situation, that may lead to military action against a large state, a war that will have dramatic consequences of strategic character, he pointed out.