Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [This from the universal exemplars of free, fair and transparent electioneering, not one of whom could get elected as a city councilman or village ombudsman without selling his soul to a hundred dimestore Mephistopheles; and who blithely gloss over the intriguing irregularities in their own country's presidential election only a few months ago. But if the Western-selected opponent, who only receives 10% of voter support in the latest poll, doesn't win, there will be all hell to pay, as U.S. Congressman Peter Deutsch reminds us below.] U.S. Congress to Send Observers to Monitor Belarus Poll MINSK, Aug 23, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The U.S. Congress will send a delegation to monitor the upcoming presidential elections in Belarus, Congressman Peter Deutsch told reporters here. "The conduct of free, fair and transparent elections is very important to the U.S. Congress, as transparency in any election is critical for the result to be accepted by everyone," Deutsch said. "If the election is not free and fair, I fear that the relations between the U.S. and Belarus will only get worse. I sincerely hope that this will not be the case," he added. During his week-long trip prior to the September 9 election, Deutsch met Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov, as well as President Alexander Lukashenko's leading opponent, Vladimir Goncharik, and other members of Belarus's downtrodden opposition. The U.S. delegation would be helped by some 150 OSCE observers, some of whom had already arrived in Belarus, Deutsch said, adding that he himself would be part of the U.S. mission. The mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe earlier charged the Belarussian authorities with impeding their work, citing numerous restraints and delay in issuing entry visas, and claiming that the results of their monitoring are thus bound to be inaccurate. The OSCE's relations with Belarus had been stormy, with Lukashenko accusing the pan-European security agency of engaging in "subversive" activities against the country after the OSCE reported electoral fraud during last year's parliamentary poll. However, the authoritarian president appears set for easy re-election next month as only three little-known contenders are standing against him. His main opponent, Goncharik, recorded only a 10 percent approval rating in a recent opinion poll. The other two candidates are Semyon Damash and Sergey Gaydukevich. They are both expected to step aside later in favor of Goncharik. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
