BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/04/2008

Belarus Wants US Mission Cut

Belarus Wants US Embassy Staff Cut To 7 Amid Diplomatic Dispute

(AP) Belarus called on the United States Wednesday to cut its embassy staff in Minsk to a skeleton crew of seven people.

It was the latest demand in a diplomatic dispute between the former Soviet republic's authoritarian government and the United States, one of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's fiercest critics.

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

Lukashenko wants the U.S. to lift sanctions imposed against its state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim.

The sanctions are part of a U.S. effort to punish the Belarusian leadership for its heavy-handed treatment of critics and intolerance of dissent. U.S. officials have called Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator."

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned the top U.S. diplomat remaining in Minsk on Monday to urge further reductions in embassy staff, but did not specify numbers at the time.

"We consider it expedient to use the formula of one plus six, under which one ambassador and six diplomats will work at the Belarusian Embassy in the United States," Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Gaisyonok said Wednesday. "We expect the U.S. to adhere to the principle of parity."

The statement seemed to suggest that Belarus would permit U.S. Ambassador Karen Stewart to return. Stewart went back to Washington under pressure after Belarus recalled its ambassador, and has said she was not certain she would be allowed back into Belarus if she tried to return.

The U.S. Embassy declined immediate comment.

Source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/02/ap/europe/main3990806.shtml

Google