BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/04/2008

US calls Belarus demand to cut diplomatic staff to 7 "unwarranted and unjustified"

MINSK, Belarus (AP) -- The United States said Friday that Belarus' demand that it cut its diplomatic staff in Minsk to seven was "unwarranted and unjustified.''

The statement posted on the U.S. Embassy's Web site Friday was the latest development in the mounting dispute between Minsk and Washington.

President Alexander Lukashenko wants the United States to lift sanctions imposed against its state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim. The sanctions are designed to punish the Belarusian leadership for its heavy-handed treatment of critics and intolerance of dissent.

The U.S. ambassador left Belarus last month and the embassy cut its staff from 35 to 17 under pressure from Lukashenko's government, which made similar cuts at its embassy in Washington. The U.S. Embassy has largely stopped issuing visas, as well.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said the Minsk embassy should have just seven diplomats, and that only the "full and unconditional removal'' of the Belneftekhim sanctions could end the diplomatic pressure and improve relations.

"We consider these demands by the Belarusian government to be unwarranted and unjustified,'' a U.S. Embassy statement said.

The United States and the European Union have imposed travel sanctions on Lukashenko and government officials. Washington says the government must release all inmates it considers to be political prisoners as a condition for improving ties.

Lukashenko said Friday that he wants to normalize relations with the United States and the European Union.

"We don't want to argue with anyone -- not with the East, not with the West. I think that relations with the Americans will be normalized, and there's a perspective for normalizing relations with the EU,'' he told reporters. "In the near future we will develop normal relations, despite certain rough patches,'' he said.

He also said the sanctions were affecting Belarus' economy.

"If they didn't hinder the development of our economy, then we would be growing it at a fast pace,'' he said.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/04/news/Belarus-US.php

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