MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - There is documentary evidence of U.S. monitoring of the biological situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"Materials at our disposal prove that the U.S. Department of Defense set the task of monitoring the biological situation in the territories of Iraq and Afghanistan bordering China, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia," Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces Commander Igor Kirillov said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
"The documents underline the need for the assignment of employees of the Pentagon's contractors to managerial positions, while tasking local specialists necessarily able to interact with the necessary ministries with doing field research. It was also recommended to minimize traces leading to the contractor by paying only essential, brief visits to Afghanistan and Iraq from the Dubai office," Kirillov said.
"Seeking to avoid accusations against the U.S. Department of Defense, certain projects were implemented under the cover of the U.S. Department of State," he said.
"Please note the research program of the Department of State in Afghanistan. It envisaged studying pathogens of particularly dangerous and economically significant diseases, such as tularemia, anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, as well as collecting biological samples in the country and transporting them to the U.S.," Kirillov said.