BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
24/03/2008
U.S. to cut staff at its embassy in Belarus
The Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus: The United States will cut staff levels at its embassy in Minsk by almost half, bowing to demands from Belarus amid worsening relations between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
The announcement followed a Belarusian state television report that accused the embassy of setting up a spy ring in the former Soviet republic.
The U.S. Embassy refused to comment on either the TV report or the Foreign Ministry statement on the staffing cut. But a State Department official in Washington confirmed the cut.
"We will with great regret reduce the number of American staff in our embassy in Minsk by almost half at the insistence of the government of Belarus," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the matter.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said the top U.S. diplomat in the country, Jonathan Moore, had informed officials Monday that the number of U.S. diplomatic officers in Belarus would be decreased in order to make the two countries' representation equal.
The U.S. Embassy in Minsk previously had 35 employees, while the Belarusian Embassy in Washington has 18.
Tensions between the two countries worsened following Washington's imposition of sanctions last year on the state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company Belneftekhim. The assets of Belneftekhim were frozen and American companies were barred from doing business with the firm because of its ties to the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
The United States and other European countries have labeled Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator" for his intolerance of dissent and oppression of critics.
This month, the U.S. ambassador returned to Washington under pressure from the Belarusian government, which also withdrew its ambassador and demanded that the Belneftekhim sanctions be lifted.
The TV report claimed that 10 Belarusians had been recruited to collect information for use against Belarus and had turned information over to the FBI.
It said they had been provided with an apartment near the embassy and equipped with cameras, binoculars and other items.
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/24/europe/belarus.php
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