From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Belarus to Hold Maneuvers, Warn off Aggressors, Says Minister MINSK, Aug 7, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Belarus will hold large-scale military maneuvers to warn off any potential aggressor and prepare its army for modern warfare, Belarus's defense minister said. The massive maneuvers, which would involve interior and emergency ministry troops and border guards as well as the regular army, were scheduled to start on August 26, barely a fortnight before the September 9 presidential poll. "This would be a serious test for all participants, and if you will, it's a test for (President Alexander Lukashenko) as well," Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev told Belarussian television late Monday. "The fact that he had decided to take this test in today's complicated situation means we are sure of what we're doing," he added. The Belarussian military aim to examine the army's readiness to tackle modern-style warfare, including local conflicts, and to test new types of weapons, Maltsev said. Some 10,000 troops, as well as over 60 tanks, 60 missile and artillery systems, and 40 military airplanes and helicopters would participate in the maneuvers. The unprecedented scale of the maneuvers was prompted by "alarming tendencies we note in Europe," Belarus's authoritarian leader Lukashenko said, adding that such training sessions should be held annually. "Foreign countries boost their military activity close to Belarussian borders. Belarussian people must be convinced that their army can defend their peace," Lukashenko said. "Even when we have no war, our army must learn so that not only our people, but also foreign hawks knew that our troops can withstand any aggressor at any given time," he added. Belarus, which had been largely isolated from the West by its authoritarian leader's hostile policies, is actively updating its army, and a massive overhaul is due to be completed by 2005. Minsk had been particularly alarmed at the fact that Belarus's neighbors Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are stepping up their armed forces in hopes of joining the NATO military alliance. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
