BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/07/2008

KGB chief appointed Belarus security council head

MINSK (AFP)

Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday named the KGB security service chief as head of the former Soviet republic's security council, less than two weeks after a bomb explosion injured dozens.

Yuri Zhadobin, 54, headed the former Soviet state's police troops before taking the helm at the KGB last year.

"Zhadobin was appointed to bring in new personnel. Lukashenko trusts him very much, it is possible that Zhadobin completed his mission in the KGB," analyst Pavel Bykovsky told AFP.

The explosion on July 3 of a home-made bomb filled with bolts and screws injured dozens of young revellers at a concert held to celebrate Belarussian Independence Day, causing shock in this tightly-controlled country ruled by authoritarian Lukashenko.

After publicly berating officials for failing to prevent the blast, Lukashenko sacked the head of the security council and long-time ally Viktor Sheiman, and the chief of his presidential administration, Gennady Navyglas.

Navyglas is to be replaced by Vladimir Makei, a personal friend of Lukashenko's son Viktor, Bykovsky said, suggesting that Lukashenko sought to bring in an entirely dependent new team.

Source:

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=241740

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