BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/02/2006

U.S. upset with Belarus

By AP

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration accused Belarus's authoritarian government yesterday of involvement in the murders of a pro-democracy businessman and an independent journalist.

To underscore U.S. disapproval of the former Soviet republic's behaviour, Bush and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with the victims' widows, Svyatlana Zavadskaya and Irina Krasovskaya.

"Several international investigations have concluded that their husbands were murdered by authorities in Belarus because of their political activities, and the United States government shares that view," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

He said Bush expressed his condolences over the two men's deaths and "underscored his personal support for their efforts to seek justice for the disappeared and for all those who seek to return freedom to Belarus."

Source:

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/02/28/1466208-sun.html