BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
18/03/2008
Belarus "Recommends" U.S. Embassy Reduce Staff
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on March 17 that it called in Jonathan Moore, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, and gave him an "urgent recommendation" to reduce the staff of the embassy. Later the same day, the embassy issued a statement that Washington is "studying the situation." Minsk on March 7 recalled its ambassador to the United States, Mikhail Khvastou, for consultations over economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department against Belarus's largest petrochemical company, Belnaftakhim, in November 2007. The Treasury Department froze all assets under U.S. jurisdiction belonging to Belnaftakhim and its representatives, and barred Americans from doing business with the company, which it says is controlled by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. On March 6, the department posted on its website a clarification of the sanctions and this apparently has been regarded by Minsk as an extension of the sanctions. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry twice urged U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart to temporarily leave Belarus, which she did on March 12 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 12, 13, and 17, 2008). AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-180308.asp
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