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22Nov14

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Russia calls for cutting off financial support for ISIL

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Financial support provided for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) must be cut off, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Friday, noting that the campaign should be based on the international law and respect for national sovereign rights.

The ISIL has become the most affluent terrorist organization ever existed, as it not only receives financial support from outside, but also amass wealth through drug trafficking and oil proceeds from the sites it has seized, the Russian diplomat said.

The group's assets are used to finance arms purchase and recruit mercenaries from around the world, Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying.

"International financial flows to the ISIL must be cut off by approaches based on international law and with respect for the sovereignty of related countries," Bogdanov said.

Meanwhile, he stressed that the United Nations Security Council must take the principal responsibility of fighting with extremist groups like the ISIL for international peace and security.

Bogdanov also accused the United States of not complying with international law in the fight against the ISIL. "Actions of the U. S.-led coalition do not comply with the international law and generally-accepted practice of countering terrorism."

The coalition does not coordinate its operations with the Syrian government, Bogdanov said, adding that ground operations to fight the militants should only be conducted by the armed forces of Iraq and Syria.

"All assistance should be provided to related states like Iraq and Syria to ensure that their armies, defense and security forces as well as the police are well-trained and armed," Bogdanov said.

ISIL, an alternate acronym of the group Islamic State, has seized vast swaths of territory in northern Iraq since June and announced the establishment of a caliphate in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq.

[Source: Xinhua, Moscow, 22Nov14]

Syria War

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