russia to send warships to iraq

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DJ Russia Planning To Send Warships To Persian Gulf - Report

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP)--Russia's Pacific Fleet is planning to send two warships to the Persian Gulf next month in anticipation of possible U.S. military action against Iraq, a news agency reported Monday.
The Admiral Panteleyev and Marshal Shaposhnikov anti-submarine ships, accompanied by a tanker, are scheduled to leave for the region in the second half of February, the Interfax-Military News Agency quoted an unidentified navy official as saying. The official said that Russian navy ships from other fleets could also take part in the deployment.
The ships will be given the task of "protecting Russia's national interests in the region in the event of the escalation of an armed conflict between the United States and Iraq," the agency reported.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Yuri Bogun on Monday refused to confirm or deny the report, saying there was no official information on the issue.
Unlike Soviet times, when the navy regularly sent its ships to assert Moscow's presence in conflict regions, such deployments have become increasingly rare because of a cash shortage that has stranded most ships in harbor, lacking fuel and spares.
Russia has backed the tough U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Iraq comply with weapons inspectors, but warned the U.S. against using force without explicit U.N. approval. Moscow has been concerned that a possible U.S. attack would destabilize the region and endanger its own economic interests in Iraq.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires