Russia �morally bankrupt� on Syria: US

WASHINGTON, Oct 13: The United States has denounced Russia�s policy of aiding the Syrian regime as �morally bankrupt� after a plane intercepted by Turkey was said to have been caught carrying suspect cargo.US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington had been given �a pretty comprehensive accounting from the Turkish side of precisely what they found.�She refused to disclose to reporters what exactly had been in the cargo, but said �we have no doubt that this was serious military equipment.�Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, however, that the SyrianAir plane intercepted by Turkey on a flight from Moscow to Damascus was carrying a cargo of dual-purpose radar equipment, and insisted Russia did not violate any laws.�This cargo is electrical technical equipment for radar stations, this is dual-purpose equipment, but is not forbidden by any international conventions,� Lavrov said.Nuland acknowledged yesterday, that Russia had not violated any embargo on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, but said �the policy�s still morally bankrupt.��Everybody else on the Security Council is doing what it can unilaterally to ensure that the Assad regime is not getting support from the outside,� she said.�We have been saying for almost a year now, that no responsible country ought to be aiding and abetting the war machine of the Assad regime.�(agencies)