MOSCOW, 20 October 2004 — Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that only religious tolerance can combat future terror attacks, while at the same time vowing to stamp out all nationalist movements that he said presented a danger to the state.

“Not only the state, but society as a whole must stand up against any manifestations of xenophobia and religious intolerance,” Putin told a congress of Azeri leaders in Russia ahead of Kremlin talks with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

But at the same time, Putin vowed to lead a “decisive fight against the everyday nationalism that still confronts us... and to firmly stamp out all forms of nationalism and extremism, which are the feeding ground for terrorists and their like.” Putin’s comments came just over a month after the Beslan school hostage drama, in which more that 330 people were killed.