BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/07/2007

Belarus Intelligence Chief Axed After Spy Scandal

MINSK (AFP) - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko Tuesday sacked his intelligence chief Stepan Sukhorenko but did not say if it was linked to the weekend discovery of a Polish spy ring in the country.

The presidency simply said Sukhorenko dismissal "is linked to his naming to another post." The KGB secret service will now be headed by Yuri Jadobin, who was in charge of Lukashenko's security.

Belarus' secret service announced on public television Sunday that it had arrested a spy ring that had been working inside the country for Poland.

The five people arrested include four Belarussian citizens and one Russian, all of whom were former soldiers, Viktor Veguera, the deputy head of Belarus' KGB, told ONT television.

In Belarus, treason carries a sentence of seven to 15 years in prison.

Source:

http://mnweekly.ru/cis/20070720/55263033.html