Regarding the matter of Mr. Borodin, I offer the article below from Moscow Times. Note that the Carerngie Foundation which - shockingly - is tolerated in Moscow is reported seeing Mr. Putin's response to the Borodin arrest as an attack on the current government of Belarus. Nestor Gorojovsky pointed out to me today that when the Imperial attacks on Argentina have for half a century ALWAYS avoided the real issue - always finding a humanitarian or left-sounding cover. The Carnegie Foundation provided the venue for a study of that question. It is discussed thoroughly by Diana Johnstone. I will re-post her piece in a moment. Best regards, Jared Copyright 2001 Independent Press The Moscow Times January 26, 2001 /SECTION: No. 2129 LENGTH: 442 words HEADLINE: Borodin Replaced as Union Head BYLINE: COMBINED REPORTS BODY: Reuters, MT The Russian government rejected accusations of high-handedness from Belarus on Thursday after replacing Pavel Borodin, who is under arrest in the United States, as head of their planned union. The former Kremlin property manager was due to attend a bail hearing in New York later Thursday linked to Swiss attempts to extradite him. He is accused of taking multimillion dollar kickbacks from Swiss construction companies. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov appointed Igor Selivanov, one of Borodin's deputies, acting secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union, a nebulous body preparing a planned economic merger of Belarus and Russia. The appointment brought an indignant reaction in Minsk. "Theoretically Kasyanov has the right to propose candidates for council secretary," an official in Minsk said on condition of anonymity. "But it should be confirmed by the Council of Ministers. Not just by the Russian prime minister but by the Belarussian too," he said. "Kasyanov cannot give directions and orders for both governments." Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said the Belarus-Russia Union needed an acting chief to prepare for a meeting on Monday. Vladimir Zhirinovsky led a parade by his supporters to the Swiss Embassy in Moscow on Thursday, waving banners and placards backing Borodin. "This is a form of war against Russia," Zhirinovsky said. "It is provocation." Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has vehemently criticized Borodin's arrest and said he was "duty-bound" to support the head of the Belarus-Russia Union. Media say Lukashenko signaled his fury at Russia's inaction over Borodin this week by returning to Minsk from Moscow a day early, ostensibly to meet Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev. "Some insist that Lukashenko, offended by such treatment, decided himself to cut short his Moscow trip. Others assert that the request came from the Kremlin," Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta newspaper said. Andrei Ryabov of the Moscow Carnegie Center said Thursday that the decision to replace Borodin is a "pretext to show Lukashenko that he is losing the Kremlin's favor." Yevgeny Volk of the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office also said that Borodin was too closely affiliated with Lukashenko. "In my view, Russian authorities have recently lost trust in Borodin because he has become an odious figure," Volk said. Ryabov and Volk agreed that the Kremlin has not used all the resources at its disposal to help Borodin's arrest. "It would be wrong to say that the Kremlin gave Borodin up, but, for a number of reasons, it chose not to fight (for his freedom) too hard," Ryabov said. _______________________________________________ CrashList website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
