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Russia Warns West Against Encouraging Middle East Protests

   VOA News  February 15, 2011
   British Foreign Secretary William Hague, right, greets Russian Foreign
   Minister  Sergei  Lavrov as he arrives at the Foreign and Commonwealth
   Office for a bilateral meeting, in London, February 15, 2011

Photo: AP

   British Foreign Secretary William Hague, right, greets Russian Foreign
   Minister  Sergei  Lavrov as he arrives at the Foreign and Commonwealth
   Office for a bilateral meeting, in London, February 15, 2011

   Russia's  foreign minister says it can be "counter-productive" for the
   United  States and the West to encourage the spread of revolutions and
   pro-democracy protests in the Middle East.
   Sergei Lavrov says Russia has had its own revolution and does not need
   to be calling for others.
   Lavrov made his comments Tuesday at a joint press conference in London
   with  British Foreign Secretary William Hague, after the two diplomats
   held talks.
   In  recent weeks, popular uprisings have toppled long-standing regimes
   in  Egypt and Tunisia.  Anti-government demonstrators are now holding
   protests in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen.
   On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the Iranian
   demonstrators as courageous. Hague urged Iran's government to restrain
   itself  from cracking down on protesters and to allow people to freely
   express their views.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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References

   1. http://twitter.com/VOAMidEast
   2. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667?    v=wall

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