Protection of truth about war vital to prevent history revision.

TEL-AVIV, May 24 (Itar-Tass) -- The consistent protection of the truth
about the Second World War is particularly important in view of any
attempts to revise the history and undermine the Soviet Union role in the
victory over Nazism, chief of the Russian presidential executive office
Sergei Naryshkin said at the 12th Congress of the World Association of the
Russian Press (WARP) that opened here on Sunday.
"Congress is held in a special year, when the 65th anniversary of the
Great Victory is celebrated," he noted. "Representatives of various
nationalities and various creeds were fighting with Nazism, and this date
is a common holiday for all people in the world," Naryshkin pointed out.
"The work, which Israel, the country's government, war veteran
organizations and media, including Russian-language media are doing to
protect the historical truth about the war deserves a deep respect,"
Naryshkin remarked. "It is particularly important today, when we witness
some attempts to revise the war history, undermine the Soviet Union role
in the victory of Nazism. The fate of more than a million Israeli citizens
is connected with the Soviet Union," Naryshkin indicated.
"Sixty-five years later in each page of the war history we should, we
are obliged to be able to realize its warnings, remember how the war was
unleashed, see the danger in the claims of some countries for domination
in the world, ideas of racial exclusive nature and religious extremism,"
he underlined. "Any even tacit connivance to xenophobia and anti-Semitism
may lay a fertile ground for new spots of violence," Naryshkin noted.
Speaking at the Congress Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
noted that "it is possible to understand those Russian-speaking people,
when they encounter the attempts to undermine the contribution of the Red
Army in the victory over Nazism." "If the Nazis had won, all Jews would
have been killed at least in the eastern hemisphere," the premier said.
"Therefore, we as the Jews and just intelligent people are very grateful
to the sacrifice committed by the Red Army and the Russian people,"
Netanyahu said.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
also stated at the forum that "Israel has always consistently opposed the
history revision and any attempts to justify Nazi war criminals and their
accomplices."
The ITAR-TASS news agency will hold a photo exhibition dedicated to
the 65th Victory anniversary at the Knesset for the first time during the
12th WARP Congress. Alongside, an official ceremony on the occasion of the
Great Victory will be held at the museum complex in Latrun. The Congress
delegates, Israeli politicians and thousands of war veterans living in
Israel will attend the ceremony.

.Lavrov, UN special envoy for Afghanistan to discuss drug threat.

MOSCOW, May 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
and visiting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for
Afghanistan Staffan Mistura will discuss the struggle with a drug threat
coming from Afghanistan here on Monday.
The consultations will be held ahead of a next international meeting
on Afghanistan due this July. The parties concerned will discuss the
current situation in this country, first of all the assistance to the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to ensure security and stability, as well
as in the struggle with the drug threat.
Russia is taking active effort to combat the drug trafficking from
Afghanistan. Specifically, Lavrov discussed this problem in Rome at a
meeting of the foreign and defense ministers in the previous week. He
urged NATO partners to take tough measures in rooting out opium poppy
crops in Afghanistan.
"The major reserve that should be put into action in Afghanistan in
the struggle with drug trafficking is the destruction of not only drug
laboratories and drug trafficking routes, but also direct opium production
outlets. We cannot come to agreement with some our European colleagues on
the destruction of drug crops," the Russian foreign minister underlined.
Lavrov noted that Russia had put forward several initiatives, which
are under discussion in the NATO-Russia Council. "It seems to us that our
proposals should be taken with higher interest," the minister noted.
The Russian foreign minister believes that an additional mandate
should be granted to destroy opium poppy crops. "People, who provide their
lands for opium crops, should be put on the black lists of the UN Security
Council and should be subjected to sanctions," he believes. Lavrov also
urged to build up cooperation between NATO and the Collective Security
Treaty Organization, opium destruction operations of which proved
efficient.
-0-baz


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