Washington Post  - 01.22.2002

Read January 3^rd  article

The Washington Post

The Embassy of Belarus Responds

Mark Lenzi's Jan. 3 op-ed column, "Europe's Armory for Terrorism," accused Belarus of supporting terrorist groups and rogue countries by supplying them with lethal military equipment. This allegation is false.

Belarus does not sell weapons to nations to which arms sales are banned by resolutions of the U.N. Security Council. Belarus has a close working contact with the United States and has briefed U.S. representatives on this subject.

The writer's allegation that Belarus backs terrorism is pure invention. Belarus condemned the acts of Sept. 11. It instructed banking and fiscal authorities in Belarus to examine bank accounts and money flows to identify whether any had relevance to the terrorists' financial networks.

Belarus, as a part of the former Soviet Union, was the first country to renounce its nuclear-weapons status voluntarily without conditions or bargains and to withdraw nuclear warheads from its territory. Under the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, Belarus destroyed more weapons than France, Germany and Great Britain together.

VALERY V. TSEPKALO

Ambassador

Embassy of the Republic of Belarus

Washington