No havens from terror, warns Russia

No havens from terror, warns Russia

PHILIPPINES: All countries are potential terrorist targets, a senior Russian official warned members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) at a conference on terrorism in the transport sector held on Tuesday in Manila.

"There are no safe havens any more in the world, no more territories or countries hidden or protected or not in the (crosshairs) of terrorism," said Vladimir Andreyev, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the opening of the meeting co-hosted by the Philippines and Russia.

Andreyev said that terrorists "attack not just innocent people but also an innocent country", that may not be involved in their quarrel.

He cited the bombing of the Moscow subway that killed 41 people just a month before the March 11 bombings in Madrid that killed almost 200 people.

Andreyev said weapons of mass destruction and portable anti- aircraft devices were becoming increasing dangers.

But he warned that in the future, suicide bombers "will become the most dangerous and the most used tool of terrorism in transport".

Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Alicia Ramos said the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States highlighted how modes of transportation could be used as terrorist weapons. -- AFP