BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2008

Belarus Discovers 'US Spy Ring'

MINSK, March 26--The Belarus state security agency has confirmed a television report that a US spy ring is discovered in Minsk amid a diplomatic stand-off between the countries.

According to the report, broadcast Sunday, 10 Belarusian nationals were discovered giving information to a staff member of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Valery Nadtochayev, spokesman for the Belarusian KGB agency, told AFP: "I confirm the veracity of the story on spying that was shown on the First National Channel."

The US acting head of mission in Minsk told the BelaPan news agency that the 10 were security staff protecting the embassy building.

The US official said the local police were fully aware of the suspects' activities.

Media quoted the head of the Belarusian KGB, Yury Zhadobin, saying that no one had been detained in connection with the case.

The US ambassador, Karen Stewart, was asked to leave Minsk earlier this month in protest at US sanctions on Belarusian oil monopoly Belneftekhim.

The sanctions were an attempt to pressure the Belarusian leadership, which Washington has described as "Europe's last dictatorship."

Meanwhile, BelaPan news agency reported Tuesday that the US will cut embassy staff in Belarus to a bare minimum in the wake of spying allegations.

Personnel working in the US legation in the capital Minsk will fall to 17 individuals, State Department spokesman Jonathan Moore said.

The embassy currently has 38 employees, a diplomatic source said.

In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement regretting the reduction of staff in Minsk, which means a temporary halt to on-site processing of visa applications.

The embassy will also have to close several "American corners" in local libraries that offer information about the US, it added.

"The unfortunate actions by the Belarus authorities demonstrate that Belarus has taken a path of confrontation and isolation rather than a path of engagement and democratic reform," the statement said.

Source:

http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=032030120080326084028

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