BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/06/2007

U.S. president renews sanctions against Belarus leader

WASHINGTON, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President George Bush has renewed sanctions against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and other high-ranking officials from the ex-Soviet republic for another year.

Last June, President Bush signed a resolution freezing all property and financial assets in the United States owned by Lukashenko and certain Belarusian officials, as they were undermining democratic processes and institutions in Belarus.

Lukashenko, dubbed by Washington as 'Europe's last dictator', repeatedly denied that he had any property or assets in the United States.

In response to the renewed sanctions, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry suggested that the U.S. president transfer all assets belonging to Belarusian officials that they find on accounts in the United States to destitute U.S. citizens.

The U.S. and 27 EU member states also imposed last year an entry ban on Lukashenko and other top Belarusian officials following Lukashenko's landslide victory in a presidential election last March that international observers and the domestic opposition said was flawed.

Source:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070615/67269736.html

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