Belarus is mulling over the possibility to render humanitarian assistance to Iraq, said at the Thursday briefing the press-secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Andrei Savinykh. He said that Belarus is utterly alarmed by the start of the military campaign. However, they don’t seem to be waiting for Hussein’s coming for political asylum, while Alexander Lukashenko calls the United States “monster” and “aggressor”.

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On March 12 the diplomats from the British and American embassies monitored the People’s March “For Better Life!” in central Minsk. A few thousand peaceful protesters of all ages assembled on the Yakub Kolas square at around six in the evening and, following the instructions, sounding from the police van’s loudspeakers, moved out in peaceful procession towards the National Science Academy.

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The law-enforcers visited the apartment of the Borisov entrepreneur Nikolai Vitorsky yesterday in the afternoon. Having told him that he had actively engaged in the People’s March solidarity action, they filed protocol on him, warning the man that soon he would surely be summoned to court. If you remember, on March 12 there took place a meeting in central Borisov opposite the town hall’s building, attracting over two hundred local businessmen and ZUBRs.

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RIA “Novosti” quotes Lukashenko as saying that what is going on now is the US aggression against Iraq. “That’s the first greatest, cynical aggression since the 2nd World War time in breach of the international decisions,” – declared the Belarusian leader in an interview to the editors of “Komsomolskaya Pradva” and “Sovetskaya Belorussiya”, televised by the state channels on Wednesday morning.

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Millions of Belarusians intend to protect Iraq, said the Iraqi ambassador in Minsk Salman Zeidan, reports ITAR-TASS. According to him, they also received offers from the Belarusian females, who claimed readiness to help the wounded in the battlefield. Zeidan also said that the Iraqi military forces have great experience and will stand for their country to the end. He said that USA and Great Britain would get back from Iraq “thousands of coffins with aggressors’ bodies”.

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In response to the article “What’s OSCE Mission’s Mission?”, published on March 18, the editorial board received a letter from the new head of OSCE mission Eberhard Haiken, followed by a request to publish it. Here it goes (the original style preserved):

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Belarusian diplomatic mission in Iraq “temporarily” moved from Baghdad to Syria, said at the Wednesday briefing in Foreign Ministry the head of the FM’s information department Andrei Savinykh. He said that the move was provoked by mounting tensions in the region and escalating threat of war conflict. At the moment the Belarusian charge-d’affaires in Iraq Yuri Orange and second secretary Valery Gurin are now headquartered in Damascus. There are no more Belarusian nationals left in Iraq, following their departure.

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The protection of the US embassy in Minsk, along with all diplomatic representations of foreign countries, accredited in Belarus, was strengthened in connection with the start of the combat actions in Iraq, “Interfax” was told by the association “Ohrana” of the Belarusian Interior Ministry.

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