The world leading tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris Company decreases its share at the Belarusian market. The company’s upper management made a decision on closing its Belarusian representative office by the end of April 2007 due to complications in negotiations with the Belarusian government and “Norman” Grodna tobacco factory on licensed production of cigarettes at the GTF. This was reported to the PRIME-TASS agency by the source close to the Philip Morris Company.

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The U.S. Department of State has published a new annual report on human rights practices in 2006. The report notes that presidential elections on March 19 that declared Lukashenko president for a consecutive third term failed to meet international standards for democratic elections. The government continued to ignore recommendations by major international organizations to improve election processes and human rights.

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“We, relatives of abducted Belarusians, believe that signing the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is a serious step for every state in building democracy and returning to the path of rule of law and justice. It is very important, as without reconsideration of mistakes of the past one cannot build a just future. That is why the civil initiative “We Remember” is taking an active part in promotion of the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance at the international level,” the widow of a businessman and public leader Anatol Krasouski, a leader of the civil initiative “We Remember” Iryna Krasouskaya told to the Charter’97 press-center, commenting on the statement of A deputy head of administration of the president of the Republic of Belarus, Natallya Pyatkevich at a press-conference in the UN Headquarters.

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The USA is negotiating with Russia on settling the Belarusian issue. That was reported by Syargei Kalyakin, first secretary of the Party of Communists Belarusian, at the press-conference in Minsk March 5, 2007.Since 27 February until 4 March representatives of the Belarusian democratic forces were on a visit to the USA. Party leaders Anatol Lyabedzka (the United Civil Party), Syargei Kalyakin (the Party of Communists Belarusian), Vintsuk Vyachorka, leader of the BNF, Irina Kazulina, spouse of the chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Gramada), former candidate for the presidency of Belarus, Syargei Matskevich, head of the working group of the Assembly of the Belarusian non-governmental organizations were among the members of the delegation.

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The leader of the democratic forces of Belarus Alyaksandr Milinkevich has received a letter of support from a candidate for the Presidency of France in the 2007 election Nicolas Sarkozy. In the letter the forerunner of the presidential race Nicolas Sarkozy notes: “I want to wish all the best in the year 2007 to you and to all activists of the democratic forces of Belarus. You should be confident of my fullest support in your struggle for triumph of justice and democracy”.

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A meeting of the Central council of the Union of Left parties consisting of the Party of Communists of Belarus, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) and the Belarusian Party of Women “Nadzeja” are to constitute the Union of Left parties. Their representatives have decided to go to the Supreme court of Belarus with a complaint against Justice Ministry for its refusal to register the Union, Radio Svaboda informs.

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A historian from the Institute of History of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Belarus Yauhen Anishchanka has been turned out of his job. The historian wrote that Russian Generalissimo Aleksandr Suvorov was a butcher for the Belarusian nation, and Tadeusz Kosciuszko was a hero of the Belarusians, the Polish “Gazeta Wyborcza” informs. “Belarusian historian lost job because of Kosciuszko,” the article’s name reads.

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A deputy head of administration of the president of the Republic of Belarus, Natallya Pyatkevich, has stated that at a press-conference in the UN Headquarters. As told by Natallya Pyatkevich, Belarusian Foreign Ministry would not award a top priority status to this UN Convention. The UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006.

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Military columnist of the “Kommersant” newspaper Ivan Safronov died under unclear circumstances-he fell out of his apartment’s window on the fifth floor .Not long before his death he started writing a newspaper story on probable future deliveries of Russian weapons to the Middle East. According to information published by his colleagues in Kommersant this Tuesday, Safronov was going to dwell on selling a batch of SU-30 fighters to Syria and C-300B antiaircraft missile complexes to Iran. Meanwhile, in both cases the deliveries, according to him, were to be routed via Belarus for the West not to blame Moscow in arming the outcast countries. Ivan Safronov phoned the editorial board from Abu-Dhabi where the leaders of military manufactures had gathered at the IDEX-2007 international arms exhibition and said that he had received the necessary evidences. He promised to write a corresponding article after his coming back to Moscow.

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Since March 1 to May 1 a Dutch branch of the Amnesty International holds a rally in support of the leader of the Young Front Zmitser Dashkevich who had been sentenced to a year and a half of imprisonment. The human rights organization calls upon all people concerned about the future of the prisoner of conscience to write a letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka with a demand to release Zmitser Dashkevich immediately.

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On Friday, March 2, the “Zvyazda” newspaper published an article “Slavonic Parliamentary Union” Granted Legal Status” with a report that a deputy group of a so-called “Slavonic parliamentary union” (SPU) which had been registered un Minsk, is forming in the Slovak Republic, and that the Slovak Parliament has offered a part of the secretariat of the SPU to work in Bratislava. The Slovak Embassy had asked the editor-in-chief of the “Zvyazda” to publish an official contradiction of the news in the newspaper, however it hasn’t been done.

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The EU sanctions against 34 Belarusian officials are to enter into force on April 1, though during the session of the EU Council of Ministers this issue hadn’t been discussed, Radio Svaboda has been informed in Brussels. According to a representative of the Secretariat of the Council Mrs. Simon, the question of ban for entering the EU countries for responsible Belarusian officials and a blockade of their bank accounts is to be adopted in March.

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A hike in prices for Russian oil and gas haven’t caused any catastrophe in Belarus, however the country doesn’t refuse Russian credit of $1.5 billion, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said summing up results of the official visit to the United Arab Emirates.

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A group of opposition politicians have urged the European Union and the United States to push for the release of United Civic Party member Dzyanis Dzyanisaw. Mr. Dzyanisaw, a youth who spent days in the opposition tent camp on Minsk`s Kastrychnitskaya Square after last March`s presidential election, was arrested in Homyel last month and is facing a charge of "organizing and preparing group actions that seriously violate public peace." He is currently held in a pretrial detention center in Vitsyebsk.

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A Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Italian parliamentary Andrea Rigoni, plans to visit Minsk in the middle of May this year. As the BelaPAN has been informed by a representative of an informational service of the Council of Europe, Roberto Tumbarello, an agreement has been reached on March 2 during the meeting of the European politician with a representative of the “council of republic” of the “national assembly” of Belarus Henadz Navitski in Rome. “Navitski has underlined that at the moment political prisoners in the country could be counted on the fingers of one hand,” R. Tumbarello said.

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