Iraq repeats Kosovo - Chernomyrdin
ITAR-TASS - November 17, 2003

By Yevgeny Tkachyov

MOSCOW - The developments in Iraq strictly follow the Kosovo pattern, Viktor Chernomyrdin, a former mediator in the 1999 settlement of the Balkan crisis has said.

He was speaking at the Itar-Tass headquarters at the presentation of his book The Challenge about the war in Yugoslavia on Monday.

Chernomyrdin believes it is the single polarity of the world that triggered the Balkan crisis and the war in Iraq.

"The beginning of the war in Iraq prompted me to write a book about the Balkan settlement process. The war in Iraq has now been declared over, but it is still going on and people keep dying in it," he said. "The war in Iraq followed a well-known pattern. In that sense no lessons have been learned from the Balkan events. However, the situation in Europe has changed. Far from all there were for the repetition of the old scenario."

November 17, 2003 Monday 7:22 AM Eastern Time

Copyright 2003 ITAR-TASS News Agency
Posted for Fair Use only.