BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
07/03/2008
Belarus expels US ambassador over sanctions
MINSK (AFP)
Belarus expelled the United States ambassador and recalled its own envoy to Washington on Friday in retaliation for U.S. economic sanctions over alleged human rights abuses.
In an angry reaction, the White House said the move was "deeply disappointing" and would deepen the ex-Soviet country's isolation.
Belarus ordered "the withdrawal to Minsk of the ambassador of the Belarus Republic in the United States Mikhail Khvostov" in retaliation for sanctions on oil monopoly Belneftekhim, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Belarus "strongly recommends that the U.S. ambassador in Minsk, Karen Stewart, leave our country," the statement said.
The decision was one of a number of "tough measures" that will be taken in response to the United States, which has "violated the agreed algorithm on normalizing relations," the statement said.
The United States, which has described the regime of Belarussian President Vladimir Lukashenko as "Europe's last dictatorship," last year blacklisted Belneftekhim, freezing the accounts of its U.S. representative office.
On Thursday, Belarussian state news agency Belta reported that the U.S. Treasury Department had introduced "limitations on the access of the company's subsidiaries to the U.S. market."
Belarus in December warned of a "severe" reaction if the United States increased the sanctions.
The United States and the European Union both have visa bans in place against Belarussian leaders.
In Friday's statement the Belarussian foreign ministry called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to intervene against the United States' "crude violation" of the organization's principles.
If this does not happen, Belarus will reconsider its relations with the OSCE, the statement said.
Washington has been a fierce critic of Lukashenko for rolling back democratic freedoms since his election in 1994 and cracking down on dissent.
Friday's statement followed sharp criticism by the United States of Belarus's treatment of imprisoned opposition leader Alexander Kozulin.
After international condemnation, Belarus agreed to briefly free Kozulin from jail for his wife's funeral. Kozulin was jailed in 2006 for leading a large street protest against an election denounced by the West as rigged
Source:
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/03/07/46615.html
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