German Convoys Gain OK to Cross Russia Onto Afghan Soil

Warning that Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders remain dangerous, Russian Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov said Thursday that German military cargo and convoys would be allowed to cross Russia to Afghanistan, where Germany currently leads the U.N. peacekeeping force.

“The leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban are alive and well, they continue to plan terrorist acts and sometimes carry them out, unfortunately successfully, and they continue to receive certain financial aid,” Ivanov told reporters during a trip to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. “This demands, of course, unflagging efforts to bring order to the much-suffering land of Afghanistan.”

The decision to allow Germany, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to transport military supplies across Russian territory was announced Wednesday evening by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin at the start of a hastily arranged meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

That meeting focused mainly on Iraq, an issue on which Russia and Germany have a similar stand.

The transit pledge “is an unprecedented decision in the history of Russia,” Putin said in announcing the agreement. The action reflects “Russia’s interest and readiness to fulfill its obligations within the framework of the anti-terrorist coalition.”

Schroeder thanked Putin for “this very good news” and said “this will be a very great help” to Germany.

Tatyana Parkhalina, director of the Center for European Security Problems, a Moscow think tank, said “the decision to allow Germany to send its military convoys across the territory of Russia ... was more likely dictated by the general understanding that Russia should be moving towards establishing a closer partnership with the West in general. It is a clear-cut indication that Russia is ready for more cooperation.”

Ivanov’s statement about Afghan-based terrorism reflects a Russian diplomatic effort to remind nations that the world faces many serious threats and not just from Iraq, several Russian analysts said.

“It is a sort of message to the U.S. that says: Do not think that things are bad in Iraq alone,” Parkhalina said.

“There are plenty of other hot spots where the situation is no better than in Iraq.”

Alexander I. Zhilin, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, described the transit agreement as “a very long-term decision that will have a far-reaching positive effect on bilateral relations. First and foremost, it is a political decision demonstrating Russia’s desire to further the partnership between Berlin and Moscow.”

Ivanov’s warning about Afghanistan reflects a Russian fear that “if tomorrow U.S. troops successfully invade Iraq and topple the Saddam regime, the U.S. will choose to quietly forget about international terrorism and Al Qaeda altogether, since the U.S. will get access to Iraq’s oil,” Zhilin added. “Russia does not want events to unfold according to this scenario.”

Vladislav Belov, head of the German Center at the Institute of Europe, a Moscow think tank, said that “America has stopped talking about Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and the Taliban, which is totally unjustified in Russia’s opinion.”

“Saddam is not the only global problem,” he said, “and the world should not forget to fight other hotbeds of evil too.”

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Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.