AK47 inventor says his rifles can bring peace

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian inventor of the AK47 assault rifle that bears his name, said that the weapons he invented can lead to peace if employed with good intentions.

"Hopefully the weapons I dreamed up will only be used for the cause of peace," Kalashnikov, now 86, told the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.

The inventor of about 150 different weapon models, Kalashnikov said that the assault rifle was designed to be handled by Russian peasants fighting against German troops in World War II.

Extremely light and easy to handle by people without military training, the AK47 later became popular among rebels fighting independence wars against their governments, as well as drug traffickers and other criminals.

Prensa Latina quoted Kalashnikov as saying that he was proud of his assault rifle's role in many successful wars for independence around the world, such as in Mozambique. Politicians, he said, were to blame for such wars for failing to find nonviolent solutions to people's demands.

Kalashnikov acknowledged that the AK47 assault weapon had not always been used for "noble ends" but he did not feel guilty about that.

Kalashnikov arrived in Cuba on April 18 for a series of medical checkups. He said he had enjoyed his first visit to the communist-run island, which was a major ally of the former Soviet Union before its collapse.

"Cuban people are just as I imagined them: hospitable and very emotional," he said.