US can place Belarus on list of state sponsors of terrorism

In case the facts foreign countries support Colombian terroristic grouping FARC are confirmed, these states can have serious consequences.

The US Congress is preparing a draft bill based on these documents, according to which the US lawmakers can place the countries, supporting the Colombian rebels on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the Russian newspaper “Novye Izvestia” notes.

As the newspaper reminds, at the end of the last week Valer Nadtachaeu, chairman of the Belarusian KGB public relations department, said another “spy ring” headed by US embassy officer Kurt Finley was exposed. The accusations against this American diplomat followed the expanding sanctions on the Belarusian enterprises by the US Department of State. The information that Minsk was going to “help” Venezuela with arms supplies to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), considered to be a terroristic organisation by the US, has leaked to foreign media.

In the opinion of “Novye Izvestia,” the very reason of accusation against members of the “spy ring” is rather interesting. According to Nadtachaeu, they “illegally made photo and video of Belarusian citizens, and watched militia officers.” The examination, conducted by the Belarusian KGB, revealed that members of an “observation and detection group” managed to collect about 5000 photos. The situation appears to be even more curious if remember that Kurt Finley had already returned to the US. Moreover, Nadtachaeu stated that involving Belarusian citizens into illegal activity, qualified under article 356 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (Treason) “was curbed on early stage.”

Moreover, the newspaper notes, the US Department of the Treasury has recently again made clarifications to the sanctions against Belneftekhim. Three big subsidiaries of the company –Lakokraska OAO (Lida), Polotsk Steklovolokno OAO and the Belorussian Oil Trade House were placed on the list of firms, whose accounts should be blocked in the US and European countries. According to US Charge d’Affaires in Belarus Jonathan Moore, the main reason for expanding of sanctions is that of former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin and other opposition activists are still in prison.

At the same time the official Minks found itself implicated in a big international scandal. As the Spanish newspaper El Pais states, Belarus promised Venezuela with arms supplies to Colombian FARC rebels.

Interpol confirms the authenticity of the documents proving financial ties of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his government with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The documents also mention a “Belarusian friend,” who was to send a delegation to Caracas for negotiations with rebels. The Spanish newspaper El Pais, which was the first to publish the information, thinks the “friend” may be Viktar Sheiman, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, who visited Venezuela in February.

A file saying that Hugo Chavez and the Belarusian authorities “considered a possibility of arms supplies” was found on a computer of killed on 1 March Raul Reyes, one of the leaders of Colombian guerrillas.

The Press service of the Security Council of Belarus told to a “Novye Izvestia” correspondent, they didn’t have “anything concrete” to say concerning the information published in El Pais. The US Department of State said in case the fact foreign countries support Colombian terroristic grouping FARC are confirmed, these states can have serious consequences. The US Congress is preparing a draft bill based on these documents, according to which the US lawmakers can place the countries, supporting the Colombian rebels on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.