Posted on 03/18/2006 7:10:46 PM PST by blam
White House report alleges Belarus has sold arms to Iran
By Adrian Blomfield in Minsk
(Filed: 19/03/2006)
Belarus moved closer to international isolation yesterday after the White House submitted a largely classified report to Congress accusing the country's president of illegally selling weapons to Iran.
The report, prepared on the eve of an election in Belarus widely denounced as a sham, comes amid condemnation of a brutal crackdown on his opponents by President Alexander Lukashenko, labelled Europe's last dictator by the Bush administration. According to United States officials, the report accuses the 51-year-old president of turning himself into "one of the richest men in the former Soviet Union", through arms sales to rogue regimes and African rebel outfits.
"We spelt out some of the concerns when it comes to Belarus," said a White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, confirming the existence of the report. "This is one country in a Europe that is free and at peace that has moved in the opposite direction of freedom and peace."
Western diplomats say that Belarus earns more than £1.14 billion annually in weapons sales, much of which goes into a secret fund controlled directly by the president.
An official, who read the report, says it alleges that the Belarussian government sold arms, dual-use items, and even components that could be used in weapons of mass destruction, to Iran.
The report asserts that military hardware was also sold to the Sudanese government, which has waged a brutal campaign against rebels in the Darfur region, that has forced more than a million people to flee their homes.
The report appears to be the first step towards the imposition of targeted sanctions, likely to take the form of travel bans and an asset freeze, by the US on Mr Lukashenko and his cronies.
Britain and the European Union have signalled their intention to impose penalties should today's poll prove to be rigged.
Western diplomats say most of the cheating has already taken place, with students and other individuals known to harbour opposition sympathies being forced to vote earlier this week - a practice allowed under Belarussian law.
"They were made to vote before European observers arrived to monitor the poll," said a senior Western diplomat. "After they voted, their ballots will be checked and replaced with votes for Lukashenko. What we're seeing now is a charade of a free and fair election."
Mr Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss, seems unmoved by the condemnation. As the head of the only ex-Soviet state in Europe not to turn westwards, he is desperate to ensure there is no repeat of the revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine between 2003 and 2005, where street protests toppled similarly autocratic regimes.
Last week his secret police, which has retained its Soviet-era KGB acronym, said that anyone participating in a planned opposition protest at a square in central Minsk this evening would be arrested as a terrorist, and could face the death penalty.
The KGB also claims that the opposition is planning to detonate bombs among the crowd as a precursor to launching a coup.
Yesterday, every Belarussian with a mobile telephone was sent a text message that said: "Provocateurs are planning bloodshed in the square. Watch out for your life and health." The warnings are in keeping with the twin pillars of Mr Lukashenko's style of government: fear and disinformation.
He has brought the media under state control, save for a few newspapers, closed pressure groups, and arrested hundreds of opposition supporters over the course of the campaign.
Posters for Mr Lukashenko's main challenger, Alexander Milinkevich, are ripped down as soon as they are put up, while the president, on television almost every hour of every day, is not officially bothering to campaign.
OKAY....let's start a list.....what country has NOT sold them "arms?"
Oviously Russia gave the A-OK on Belarussian sales of arms to Iran.
PING
Where the Hellarus is Belarus?
Since Belarus (White Russia) is a puppet state of Putin's KGB, it should not in the least be surprising arms were sold to the terrorist exporting state of Iran.
Got it. Thanks. Excellent visual. :-)
What law in what jurisdiction would have been broken?
You pose a good question, so I started searching. In short, I found this. Tomorrow I'll ask someone who can give me answers without my having to search for hours.
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/CodeOfConduct.asp
ping
Once again you make a statement that has no basis in fact. What is fact is Lukashenko will do whatever the heck he wants without consulting with Moscow. Follow the Russian news and you'll see this. Lukashenko is NOT well thought of in Russian political circles, however, they've resigned themselves to the "better the devil you know" tactic since they're worried about opposition leaders turning to the West.
If the Russians were a bit more influential they'd court a Lukashenko opponent. That they don't is only indicitive of their woefully misguided regional foreign policy and the lack of clear goals and vision. Moscow backing a legitimate opposition leader would be a win-win situation. Unfortunately, most of the good oppositionists in Belarus have either left or been cowed into silence.
Belarus trading with Iran is no surprise. Each time I've been in Minsk I've noticed quite a few fellows from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa in the hotel. There's no reason to visit Minsk for tourism...
Hilarious - a puppet state? Let's see, is this indicitive of a "puppet" relationship:
"Russia has been increasingly angered by Mr Lukashenko.
Russian newspapers speculated that he was aiming to become leader of a united state of Russia and Belarus - a country which has existed on paper since 1996."
"The Russian Foreign Ministry said in February 2004 that "the Belarus president is responsible for systematic mistakes in domestic and foreign policy, which hamper economic development and lead to the international isolation of Belarus". " Lukashenko's response - "mind your own business"
"..Russia's reluctance to put at risk relations with the West by defending its clients in Ukraine during its "orange revolution" last year, could be an alarming sign for Lukashenko.
Andrei Cherkizov, a commentator for Ekho Moskvy radio, said Putin would make a decision driven by his own interests.
"A survival instinct will be the only factor which will decide Putin's behavior," he said."
How Russians feel about Lukashenko:
"As the poll findings indicate, Mr Lukashenko is overwhelmingly viewed as a major factor impeding a Russia-Belarus union. Responding to an open-ended question “What, in your view, is hampering a Russia-Belarus union?” the Lukashenko factor was named by 17% of those interviewed.
"Lukashenko with his silly demands”; “Lukashenko, his policy”; “Lukashenko is a tsar, as long as he is the king, he won’t abdicate the throne”; “Lukashenko says one thing today and does different things tomorrow”; “the Lukashenko dictatorship " (open-ended question).
As other reasons hampering or complicating a Russia-Belarus union, Russians referred to personal disagreement between the two leaders and the mismatch of interests between the two nations (these responses account for as many as one-third of all answers to the question):
"Lukashenko and Putin have different interests"; "they can’t divide power"; (open-ended question, 17%).
"They can’t divide money"; "different economies, 10 years have passed since they separated from us”; “financial arguments”; “disagreement over oil and gas prices " (open-ended question, 8%). "
"Though basically supporting the idea of a Russia-Belarus union, Russians are skeptical of the prospects of its realization in the near future. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, his personal ambitions and unwillingness to compromise are overwhelmingly seen as the major obstacles to the union."
"RFE/RL’s Znatkevich says Lukashenko often invokes Belarus as a buffer between the West and Russia, “shielding” Russia from Western influence.
Yet the idea that Putin is pulling the strings seems confined to a small minority. “I do not think that these are concerted activities of Lukashenko and Putin,” says Jacek Kucharczyk, director for programming at the Warsaw-based Institute of Public Affairs. “There seems to be a kind of consensus in Poland that Lukashenko is acting independently, although everybody thinks that Putin derives a lot of satisfaction from the current poor state of Polish-Belarusian relations.”"
"Lukashenko has rejected Putin's integration proposal floated in 2002 under which Belarus would essentially be absorbed by Russia. And a plan to introduce the Russian ruble as the two nations' single currency starting in January 2005 has run into problems amid Belarusian officials' concerns that it would give Russia too much leverage over the nation of 10 million."
" meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Russia-Belarus Union was held in Minsk on Monday. Speaking at the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the Belarusian authorities for their failure to transfer the necessary funds to the budget of the Union. "The failure to transfer the funds to the budget of the Union on time and, most importantly, in full, can create problems for us in reaching our targets," the Russian President said. "
Bottom line - Lukashenko is not respected, not listened to and returns the favor. If Gorbachev is known as the guy who lost the Soviet Empire, Putin will go down as the guy who lost Russian influence in their own backyard. As it stands, Russia can only count Belarus and Armenia as "European Allies" and Armenia is a fair-weather friend.
"Neither side can reach an agreement"; "Belarus is not willing to unite on the conditions Russia offers "; "Russia does not deign to unite with Belarus" (open-ended question, 8%).
Fraud claims follow Lukashenko win in Belarus election
AM - Monday, March 20th, 2006
Reporter: Emma Griffiths
TONY EASTLEY: The man dubbed 'Europe's last dictator' appears to have been voted in again as the president of the former soviet state of Belarus.
ABC Correspondent Emma Griffiths filed this report.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: Thousands of opposition protestors have been roused by rock concerts during this campaign, but most rallies in Belarus have been small street corner affairs.
Now the votes have been cast, the Opposition is hoping for a political uprising. It already has a name - the Denim Revolution.
The main Opposition leader, Alexander Milinkevich.
"I want to say that I’ve invited those who are for changes in our country," he says, "to come to the main square of Minsk. It will be a peaceful meeting, a meeting with flowers."
The Belarusian authorities claim the Opposition is planning a violent coup. Dozens of opposition activists have already been arrested. On election day, police raided the offices of a pro-western, pro-opposition organisation. They were looking for explosives, but found none.
The President, Alexander Lukashenko, has warned that demonstrators will be considered terrorists, and could face the death penalty.
He suspects Western involvement, and has hit out at one of his critics - United States President George W. Bush.
"It is Bush who is the first real terrorist on the globe," he says "because he crushes states in such an open manner."
The United States has pledged millions of dollars for pro-democracy programs in Belarus, but it and other Western powers have denied interfering in the election.
They have voiced concern though, about Lukashenko's control of the media. There is no independent television or radio in Belarus, and in the last few days of the election campaign the remaining non-state newspapers were shut down.
Opposition figures claim electoral rules have been violated. Their observers, chased out of polling stations; exit polls showing massive support for the President broadcast during the hours of voting.
This election may not have been free or fair, but analysts say Alexander Lukashenko has wide support anyway.
Pavel Felgenhauer doubts the success of the denim revolution.
And Journalist Pavel Sheremet says most are too scared to fight him anyway.
PAVEL SHEREMET: Belarusians live in fear all the time. They want changes, they wait for political changes, but meanwhile most of Belarusians are not ready to fight for these changes. This is the main problem for Belarusian society.
EMMA GRIFFITHS: The Opposition hopes for mass protests, so big policemen and soldiers will simply have to switch sides. But most observers believe that's just not possible in Lukashenko's Belarus.
I don`t buy that Belarus sold arms to Iran.
USA ahould get mopre allies in WOT not more enemies.
Belarus has also provided helcicopters, manuals and arms to U.S. operators for the GWOT too.
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