BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

31/12/2007

Belarus president threatens to 'kick out' US ambassador

Minsk, Dec 31 : Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened US ambassador Karen Stewart with expulsion from the country should Washington introduce new sanctions against the republic.

Stewart said in mid-December that new economic sanctions in addition to existing restrictions could be imposed against Belarusian state-run companies.

"She (the ambassador) would be the first to be kicked out. She attends opposition hangouts and says economic sanctions could be introduced against Belarus, heating up the situation. Let the American ambassador deal with her own problems, for otherwise she may leave her post in Belarus ahead of time," Lukashenko told journalists.

The controversial Belarusian leader, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington, promised to act tough in the economic sphere. "We will survive even without US dollars. We don't have many of them. If Americans don't want us to work with their currency, we will stop using it," he said.

In mid-November, the US introduced sanctions against Belarus's national petrochemical company Belneftekhim and froze the assets of its US subsidiary, which Belarus said breached a bilateral trade deal as well as the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Belneftekhim had to switch to euros in its settlements from Dec 20.Lukashenko said the US sanctions were caused by Belarus starting work in Venezuela.

In December, a joint Belarusian-Venezuelan oil production company was opened there, with plans to produce about seven million tonnes of oil annually, 40 percent for Belarus and 60 percent for Venezuela.

"They don't like that we have started working in Venezuela. But we go where we are accepted," he said.

The US and the European Union (EU) have accused Lukashenko of clamping down on dissent, stifling the media and rigging elections. Lukashenko, who was re-elected to a third term last year, and other senior Belarusian officials have been blacklisted from entering the US and the EU.

--- IANS

Source:

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=8354