ASTANA. June 10 (Interfax-AVN) - A number of CIS states have not supported Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's initiative to toughen control over the sale of portable anti-aircraft missile systems within the CIS.
"At a meeting of the CIS defense ministers in Kazakhstan on Monday, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine did not support the Russian delegation's proposal" on tightening sales of portable SAM systems, a source with the CIS military cooperation headquarters told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"A majority of the meeting's participants, namely Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Tajikistan, backed Russia's proposal on tightening oversight of Igla and Strela portable anti-aircraft missile systems and submitting the document to the CIS heads of state for approval," he said.
"This decision is designed to strengthen measures against terrorism," he said.
The source did not specify the reason for which the four countries failed to support this initiative.
An Interfax-AVN correspondent reports that a Turkmen delegation did not take part in the ministerial meeting.
"We have seen particular cases, unfortunately, of (portable SAM systems - Interfax-AVN) falling into the hands of terrorist organizations and being used by them as weapons for intercepting civil aircraft," Ivanov told the press.
"It stands to reason that the G-8 leaders raised this issue at the government level while meeting in Evian," he said.
"It is necessary to set up a mechanism for controlling the movement of this dangerous type of weapon across borders," he said.