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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that the US-led war on Iraq could not only destabilize the Middle East, but also other regions, including the former Soviet republics.
"The crisis has spilled beyond the local conflict and has become a source of instability in other regions," Putin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
He added that the war might even trigger extremism.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Friday questioned the legitimacy of the ongoing Iraq war, accusing the United States and its allies of staging an illegal military "occupation" of Iraq.
The foreign minister added that such occupation was "illegal" because the military campaign was launched without the UN backing.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)
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