Council of Europe concerned over ongoing pollution of Lake Baikal.

.

STRASBOURG, September 4 (Itar-Tass) -- The Council of Europe is
extremely concerned over reports waste water from the Baikal Pulp and
Paper Mill contains poisonous chemicals, CE Executive Secretary Eladio
Fernandez-Galiano told Itar-Tass in an interview.
The CE closely monitors the situation and intends to clarify all the
circumstances, he said. However, he remarked that in this area the
authority of his international organization was significantly limited,
because Russia remained one of the few states of the Council of Europe
that had not yet joined the Convention on the Conservation of European
Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention).
If there is confirmation the maximum permissible concentrations of
hazardous pollutants in the mill's wastewater are exceeded, the
environmental effects will be difficult to predict, Fernandez-Galiano said.
On Thursday, September 2, Itar-Tass was told at the Department of
environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor in the Siberian Federal District,
the average concentration of pollutants in the wastewater from the Baikal
Pulp and Paper Mill was above the permissible level. This was revealed by
an unscheduled inspection of the facility.
"In the waste water and in the lake near the place of discharge the
permissible concentrations of suspended solids, volatile phenols, sulfates
are higher than allowed. But because the overall amount of waste water is
much smaller than usual, the overall amount of pollutants discharged
remains within acceptable limits," the watchdog said.

.Iraq's future uncertain, invasion upset development laws-Kosachev.

MOSCOW, September 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Iraq's future is unpredictable,
because the vector of external intervention violated the internal laws of
that country's development, the chairman of the State Duma's international
affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, said in an interview on the
Russia-24 news channel.
"Saddam Hussein's regime was cruel and dictatorial," said the senior
legislator. "But the specifics of Iraq's internal structure as they are,
at some stage it takes iron hand rule to prevent disintegration processes
from going out of control."
"Now we have no guarantees they will not go out of control," he
continued. "No one knows to what degree faiths and communities will be
able to agree among themselves, or how harsh or democratic the struggle
for future power in Iraq will be."
Kosachev is convinced that "the idea of exporting democracy has lost
its vitality, failing to break through."
"We remember that the main slogan of the military operation in Iraq
was democratization. With all due respect for the political processes that
have taken place in that country in recent years, calling Iraq a stable
democratic country is not on anyone's mind. The same is true even of the
U.S. That means that Iraq has rejected the model of democracy that was
imposed on it from outside."
"It is still trying to find its own model, and it most certainly
will," Kosachev said. "But it will happen naturally and not through the
imposition of some scenarios."
About the possibility of investments into Iraq Kosachev said that
"they are always promising and interesting and will certainly help address
the fundamental problems of Iraq's existence."
"But on the other hand, it is a situation where nobody will dare give
any guarantees," he said. "Business people will have to take chances."

.Ryazan governor fires officials for dumping relief aid.

RYAZAN, September 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Governor Oleg Kovalyov, of the
Ryazan Region, has dismissed several local officials for negligence after
a cargo of humanitarian aid brought for victims of wildlife fires in the
Shatsky district from Novosibirsk was found at a local garbage dump.
As the governor's press office said on Friday, Kovalyov accepted a
resignation statement from the region's minister of social development,
Yelena Kislyakova. He also dismissed her deputies.
Also, the governor has received a resignation statement from the
deputy chairperson of the regional government in charge of social affairs,
Tatyana Panfilova. However, her statement has not been signed for the time
being.
According to the governor, the outrageous incident involving
humanitarian assistance not only shows the real worth of the dismissed
officials, but also casts a shadow on all residents of the Ryazan Region,
and the region as a whole.
"I hate the idea the people of Ryazan may begin to be judged by the
actions of a handful of unscrupulous people. There can be no forgiveness
for this, " said Kovalyov. "True, one can forgive some omissions in work,
even lack of professionalism, but cynicism and indifferences are
unforgivable."
On Thursday, Prosecutor-General's Office Investigation Committee
spokesman Vladimir Markin said that in the Ryazan Region an inspection was
underway into how a humanitarian cargo addressed to victims of fires ended
up at a dumpsite.
"The investigation committee's top officials in the Ryazan Region have
been instructed to conduct an initial inquiry into the humanitarian cargo
addressed to persons affected by the fires that was found at a dumping
ground," said Markin.
"The probe is to establish the presence or absence of corpus delicti
in the actions of municipal officials in whose territory the dump is
located," he added.
According to preliminary information, a total of 40 tonnes of
humanitarian aid sent to Ryazan from Novosibirsk was spotted at a
dumpsite. The woman who had ordered dumping the cargo explained there was
no place where to store it. Besides, many things that were gathered for
the fire victims were used ones. According to media reports, it is true
that some potential recipients refuse to accept old and even unusable
things offered to them in aid.

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