BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
24/03/2008
Amid deepening rift, Belarus TV reports alleged US spy ring
The Associated Press
MINSK, Belarus: A report on state television in Belarus accused the U.S. Embassy of setting up a spy ring, the latest salvo in disputes that have led to unfriendly relations between the United States and the ex-Soviet republic's authoritarian government.
The report, aired late Sunday, claimed 10 Belarusians were recruited to collect information for use against Belarus and turned it over to the FBI. It said they were provided with an apartment near the embassy and equipped with cameras, binoculars and other items.
The U.S. Embassy declined immediate comment, and there was no confirmation from Belarusian police and security services, which also declined to comment.
Independent analyst Yaroslav Romanchuk dismissed the report as clunky Soviet-style propaganda. "In accordance with the old Soviet tradition, the Belarusian KGB finds U.S., Polish and Latvian spies when (the government's) relations with these countries are taking a sharp turn for the worse," he said.
The main security agency in Belarus is still called the KGB.
The U.S. ambassador to Belarus returned to Washington this month under pressure from the Belarusian government, which has withdrawn its ambassador for consultations and is demanding the U.S. lift sanctions imposed on Belneftekhim, a state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company. The United States froze the company's assets and barred American companies from doing business with it, citing its ties to President Alexander Lukashenko.
U.S. officials have labeled Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator" for his intolerance of dissent and oppression of critics.
The state television report did not identify sources and did not say what kind of information the alleged spies were supposed to be collecting. It showed footage of a man, seemingly under questioning, saying that his duties included "reveling potential terrorists and spotting enemy surveillance." It also showed two women, their heads seen from behind, who said they had met with FBI representatives who showed them their badges and told them not to tell anybody about the meeting.
Lukashenko has often accused the United States and European Union nations, which have developed close ties with his beleaguered political opponents, of plotting against his government.
State television aired stridently anti-American reports during Belarus' presidential campaign in 2006, during which Lukshenko won a third term in a vote the United States and the European Union called illegitimate.
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/24/europe/EU-GEN-Belarus-US-Spy-Report.php
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