Russia Urges US, Iraq to Clarify Attack on Diplomatic Convoy

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 08, 2003

Russia Urges US, Iraq to Clarify Attack on Diplomatic Convoy

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Russia is expecting the United States and Iraq to provide official clarifications concerning Sunday's attack on a Russian diplomatic convoy, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on Monday.

"We have not yet received any official clarifications either from the United States or from Iraq," Yakovenko said in an interview with Russia's NTV television.

He said some media reports have suggested that one of the Russian diplomats was allegedly injured by a bullet fitting the caliber of the M-16 rifle used by the US army.

He expressed the hope that the United States and Iraq "will give Russia an official account of this incident in the near future."

Five people were wounded as a Russian diplomatic convoy came under fire near Baghdad while evacuating Iraq to Syria Sunday.

It was unclear whether US or Iraqi forces were responsible for the attack.

The US and Iraqi ambassadors were summoned to Russian Foreign Ministry immediately on Sunday, where they were asked to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Iraq and punish those who are responsible for the attack.

Yakovenko confirmed that nine Russian diplomats, including Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko, on Monday left the Iraqi city of Fallujah for Syria, where a medically-equipped Russian plane was waiting to bring them back to Moscow.

He said the rest of the 23 people in the convoy traveled to the Jordanian border on Sunday.

One diplomat injured in the attack was left behind in a Fallujah hospital. He is being accompanied by another embassy official, Yakovenko said.

He noted that the injured diplomat would be airlifted to Moscow as soon as his health permits.

Dmitri Rogozin, head of Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) International Affairs' Committee, said that the shooting at Russian diplomatic convoy near Baghdad "cannot be regarded as an accident and usual explanations at the diplomatic level are not sufficient."

"A full investigation should be conducted to find out how our convoy came under fire and who is to blame," he said.

On Monday morning, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov held an hour of talks with US Presidential National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Moscow Sunday.

After the meeting she declined to comment on Sunday's incident.

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