BAKU. Feb 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov totally ruled out the possibility of using the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan in the military operation against Iraq.
"I have read several analytical articles saying that the radar might be somehow involved in the operation against Iraq. This is absolute nonsense," Ivanov told reporters when arriving in Baku.
According to him, in Baku negotiators will discuss the functioning of the radar. "We will discuss the concrete functioning of the radar and establishment of maximally comfort conditions for its servicing by the Russian military," Ivanov said.
"The radar plays an important part in the sphere of preventing missile attacks and control over space," the defense minister noted.
The Russian-Azerbaijanian agreement on the status, principles and conditions of using the Gabala radar was signed in January 2002. In accordance with the agreement Russia rents the radar for a decade with the possibility of prolonging the term. The rent amounts to USD7m.