Russian public figures seem to have lapsed into incoherent rambling. Perhaps too much vodka trying to cope with the implications of the muscular Coalition victory in Iraq, which has stunned the lumbering Russian politico-military establishment.
On a visit to France on the invitation of another friend of his, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Vladimir Zhirinovsky stunned journalists with the information, saying he was perfectly sure of the following facts: He said that Saddam would spend about a year underground. Then, for fear of the establishment of a radical Islamic state in Iraq, the United States will agree to restore Iraq to the way that it previously existed. Then, Saddam Hussein will be back in power. Finally, Iraq may become a federative state in which larger powers and authority will be given to the Kurds.
Russia last night warned of an imminent catastrophe in the Korean nuclear crisis, despite signs that progress had been made in groundbreaking talks yesterday between North Korea, the US and China. "It is probable that, as early as tomorrow, there will be a catastrophic development of events," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said. Mr Losyukov claimed the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program had "reached an extreme stage", but failed to give more details about his warning or what he meant by catastrophic.
Posted by Alan at April 23, 2003 11:20 PM