UNITED NATIONS, August 24. /TASS/. Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has pointed to the inadmissibility of the situation when some armed groups in Syria are seeking to usurp the government’s functions and arrest Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) members.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council on threats to international peace and stability stemming from acts of terrorism on Thursday, Nebenzya drew attention to the fact that "along with the military defeat of Islamic State, it is necessary to take efforts to bring the radicals to responsibility."
"In this context, I must stress the inadmissibility of attempts to usurp the functions of Syrian government structures fighting against terrorists," he said. "According to the secretary-general’s report, arrests of Islamic State members are made by some armed groups, along with government forces."
"We would like to have more details: who and on which grounds have undertaken such functions, what is done to those detained and if there are plans to hand them over to the authorities. We hope to receive answers to these questions from the Security Council’s relevant committees before the next report in issued," he said.
Babel Tower of terrorism
Although the "Babel Tower" of global terrorism is falling apart, Islamic State is still managing to find money to stay alive, Vasily Nebenzya said.
"The Babel Tower of global terror has fallen to pieces. But Islamic State groups keep on speaking common language and coordinating their activities," he said at a United Nations Security Council on threats to international peace and stability stemming from acts of terrorism, using Biblical allusions.
According to the Russian diplomat, after their system of hydrocarbons contraband, terrorists have focused on new sources of financing. "Terrorists are playing on stock exchanges and are seeking to invest into legal sectors of economies in a range of countries," he said. "Islamic State is lavishly investing in travel and hospitality businesses, agriculture and fisheries, pharmaceutical and building companies."
Moreover, in his words, Islamic State is struggle for control over drug trafficking, including from Afghanistan.
He recalled that during the discussion of the UN secretary-general’s previous report on anti-Islamic State efforts, the Russian delegation had drawn attention to flagrant violations of the ban to sell weapons to terrorists. "The question is still open: how this gang of bandits managed to collect an arms arsenal to be able to resist the world’s biggest armies, by hook or by crook," Nebenzya said.
"The current report present the situation in a way that Islamic State militants are making do only with what turns up - plunder warehouses in territories they control and make improvised explosive devices," he noted, adding that, as a matter of fact, they can make only most primitive weapons and in small amounts.
"More and more evidence indicate that weapons are supplied from outside, including via semi-legal structures or even under supervision of special services of a number of countries," the Russian diplomat stressed. "We hope to discuss ways to resolve this problem at an international conference on counteracting illegal weapons supplies in the context of efforts against international terrorism due to be held in Moscow on September 3-4.".