BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/06/2008

US envoy says freeing prisoners essential for Belarus thaw

MINSK (AFP) - Belarus must free its last remaining political prisoners if it wants an easing of US sanctions and improved relations, Washington's ambassador to Minsk has said in a telephone interview.

Ambassador Karen Stewart was speaking from Washington after the authorities in the ex-Soviet state forced her and most of her staff to leave the country, which the United States has dubbed Europe's "last dictatorship."

"We're still willing and ready to look at ways to improve our relationship. But it's dependent on some step on their side on the human rights situation and that is the basis for our sanctions," Stewart told AFP.

"We look for the release of prisoners and look for what might happen in the elections," she said, referring to parliamentary polls due in September.

The US has had to cut its embassy staff from 32 at the start of March to just four diplomats today in response to a series of instructions for US diplomats to leave, issued by President Alexander Lukashenko's leadership.

Tensions blew up after Washington tightened existing sanctions on Belarus, extending them to a major petrochemical firm and its subsidiaries.

Stewart stressed that Washington wanted the release of all political prisoners, the most prominent being opposition leader Alexander Kozulin, a former government minister who turned against Lukashenko to stand against him in a 2006 election.

In addition, the parliamentary polls will be a key test of whether Lukashenko is willing to follow through on earlier cautious indications of a willingness to reform, she said.

"If any time there's willingness to move on some of these, we would certainly be willing to talk," she said.

"The next major milestone to look for improvements in Belarussian political life are parliamentary elections and the campaign period before that," she stated.

Among signs that Belarus might be willing to reform were the release early this year of all political prisoners apart from Kozulin. But the fiery opposition figure remained behind bars and two more political prisoners have since been jailed and convicted, Stewart added.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080618/pl_afp/belarususdiplomacyrightssanctions_080618180018

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