Belarus Accuses America of Forming 'Spy Ring'
MINSK, Belarus — Belarus yesterday accused America of recruiting citizens into a spy ring aimed at undermining the ex-Soviet republic.
The U.S. State Department said the allegation was "just ridiculous" and that the department was considering whether to close its embassy in Minsk.
Tension has been building between Washington and the authoritarian regime of President Lukashenko, and most American Embassy employees have been expelled in recent months.
A spokesman for the main security agency, the KGB, Valery Nadtachayev, told Belarusian television yesterday that the American Embassy had hired 10 local citizens to take photographs of police officials, airports, and villages near the state border.
Most of the diplomats were expelled after America imposed sanctions on a state-controlled Belarusian company and travel restrictions on President Lukashenko and other government officials.
The American Embassy in Minsk declined comment, but in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey rejected the accusations.
"Other than laughter I really don't have much reaction to it," Mr. Casey told reporters. "It's completely unfounded and untrue. They can come up with whatever excuses they like for their totally unjustified and unwarranted [expulsion] of our staff, but I'm sorry, this is just ridiculous."
He said State Department officials were still weighing how to respond to the expulsions, including the possibility of closing the American Embassy.
