By Adib Al-Sayed
MOSCOW, April 13 (KUNA) -- A senior Russian defense official said Monday that Russian-Arab states military cooperation was aimed at developing counterterrorism measures.
Chief of The Russian Defense Ministry's Main Depart for International Military Cooperation Sergey Koshelev told KUNA that Russian had a vast experience in dealing with terrorism, noting that his country could offer its counterterrorism expertise to the Arab countries.
Russia will continue to help the Arab world to fend off terrorist threats, said Koshelev, adding that Moscow decided to invite representatives of several Arab nations to partake in the Fourth Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) on April 16-17 to allow Russia-Arab security collaboration to further grow.
The MCIS, which will gather military officials from 60 nations, is an important event that will allow defense officials to discuss security cooperation directly, said Koshelev.
Meanwhile, the Russian defense official discussed the problems posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), saying it was paramount to touch on this issue during the conference.
ISIL's actions goes beyond the typical problems posed by terrorism, the organization has its roots in the social, economic, political, and extreme religious ideologies in its region which requires a firm stance against such threat, said Koshelev.
The Russian official said that terrorism was sometimes fueled by external forces that have certain interests in chaos, noting that Russia, as always, did not give categories for acts of terrorism and perceived all acts of terror as evil.
Koshelev affirmed that Russia was willing to cooperate with all countries regarding the issue of counterterrorism, stressing that his country committed to the security of its partners. (end) as.gta