BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

06/05/2008

Belarusian KGB Details American Spying

The Belarusian state television station Channel One ran more programming on Sunday about the activities of the network of American spies uncovered in March by the Belarusian KGB. The head of that agency's Center for Public Relations and Information Valery Nadtochaev told viewers of the program Panorama that Belarusian citizens working for the U.S. embassy security service in an "observation and detection group" were managed by the embassy security attachİ Curt Finley. Finley, Nadtochaev told Belarusian viewers in a scandalized tone, was an FBI agent. He did not mention that all security attaches at all U.S. embassies are openly affiliated with the FBI.

According to Nadtochaev, the members of the observation and detection group took 5000 illegal photographs of other Belarusian citizens. The photographs were taken in the center of Minsk, at the Minsk airport and in towns near Minsk, even photographing police at opposition meetings. Nadtochaev said that the members of the group could have been charged under article 365 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (Treason), but instead "the KGB restricted itself to measures of a warning character and has warned all citizens of Belarus who belonged to the group of the impermissibility of carrying out illegal activities."

Nadtochaev said that the Belarusian group members have all resigned from their employment at the U.S. embassy and Finley left Belarus at the end of March. On May 3, Belarusian authorities demanded that 11 more U.S. embassy employees leave the country. There are now four employees left at the embassy, including Temporary Charge d'Affaires Jonathan Moore.

Source:

http://www.kommersant.com/p889259/r_527/U.S.-Belarusian_relations/

Google