President Putin: Crisis in Iraq Exceeds Bounds of a Local Conflict - 21 March, 2003

The crisis in Iraq has exceeded the bounds of a local conflict and is now a potential source of instability for other regions of the world, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), said Vladimir Putin.

In this situation the task of regional organisations is to minimise the danger, said the President of Russia on Friday in the Kremlin, at the meeting with the heads of the delegations to the sixth session of the Committee of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the member-countries of the Collective Security Treaty.

"The important thing is to uphold the unity of the international community in the fight against international terrorism," said Vladimir Putin, having underscored that for the Collective Security Treaty countries the fight against international terrorism is a priority one.