ID :
133716
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/133716
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RF pilot detained in Liberia and taken to US has all necessary consular help.
NEW YORK, July 20 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian citizen, who was detained in Liberia in May on drug trafficking charges and transferred to the United States, is offered all necessary consular assistance, Russia's Consul General in New York Andrei Yushmanov told Itar-Tass on Monday.
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, 42, was detained by U.S. special
forces in a hotel in the Liberian capital Monrovia on May 28 and
transferred to the United States. He is currently kept in a remand prison
in Manhattan.
According to Yaroshenko, the men who detained him were wearing
civilian cloths and had shown no official documents. For several days he
was kept in a Liberian jail with nothing to eat and drink, with handcuffs
on his hands and feet. He could contact neither his family nor Russian
diplomats. He was taken from Liberia onboard a cargo plane, and only when
the plane landed he was told that he had been brought to New York.
Shortly after Yaroshenko was brought to the United States the Russian
Embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. State Department
saying it was unacceptable that Moscow had not received proper
notification on the arrest, the Russian diplomat said, adding that similar
notes were sent to the New York office of the State Department and to the
prison's administration. "So far, we have received no official response,"
he said.
According to Yushmanov, Yaroshenko was dissatisfied with his U.S.
lawyer. "We recommended him several lawyers, and now they are contacting
with Yaroshenko's relatives to choose who will represent his interests and
what will be the line of defence," he said.
Yushmanov said five consular meetings with Yarochenko have been held
since his arrival in the United States. The next meeting will be held "in
the nearest future, maybe this week," he added.
According to earlier reports, in the recent years Yaroshenko has been
working under a contract in African countries. In late May, he arrived in
the Liberian capital Monrovia to prolong his contract. According to
unofficial information circulated by the press, Yaroskenko is suspected of
organizing drug trafficking between South America, Africa and Europe.
.Lavrov arrives in Kabul to attend international conference on
Afghanistan.
KABUL, July 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Tuesday arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul to attend an international
conference on Afghanistan.
The conference will be attended by foreign ministers and senior
officials from more than 70 world nations and international organizations.
The Kabul conference will reiterate the course towards gradual transition
of powers to the local authorities. The Karzai government will make public
its plans to improve the state administration system and the economic
situation in the country, to ensure law and human rights observance, and a
program for reconciliation and reintegration, a source in the Russian
Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass.
"The forum's basic task is to win the world community's support to
these plans, including the Afghanistan Development Program for 2010-2013,"
Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Andrei Avetisyan told Itar-Tass.
However, the Russian diplomat stressed the forum "is not a donor
conference," since it will not address issues of extra funding or meeting
new requests.
The situation in Afghanistan is still of serious concern for Moscow,
especially problems related to the drug threat. According to Avetisyan,
"for Russia, the issue of anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan is the most
pressing one, it is even more important than the fight against terrorism,
since the latter is sponsored by revenues from drug trafficking."
"We have been repeatedly raising this question in our contacts with
the Afghan side and with our international partners," the Russian diplomat
stressed. "I hope Sergei Viktorovich (Lavrov) will raise this problem
during the Kabul conference. Russia's voice should be heard."
As concerns the issue of the withdrawal of the International Security
Assistance Force from Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said "it
is possible only after Afghanistan forms really combat-effective national
armed forces that will be able to ensure security in the country and
successfully solve anti-terrorism and anti-drug tasks." In general, Moscow
"supports the idea of 'Afghanization' of the settlement process, in
particular, it stand for expanding competences of the Afghan government in
distributing the donor money." Moreover, Russia says that stability in
Afghanistan largely depends on the socio-economic revival of the country.
The Russian foreign minister is expected to reiterate Moscow's
readiness to participate in international projects on the restoration of a
number of industrial and agro-industrial facilities in Afghanistan built
years ago by Soviet specialists.
-0-ras
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, 42, was detained by U.S. special
forces in a hotel in the Liberian capital Monrovia on May 28 and
transferred to the United States. He is currently kept in a remand prison
in Manhattan.
According to Yaroshenko, the men who detained him were wearing
civilian cloths and had shown no official documents. For several days he
was kept in a Liberian jail with nothing to eat and drink, with handcuffs
on his hands and feet. He could contact neither his family nor Russian
diplomats. He was taken from Liberia onboard a cargo plane, and only when
the plane landed he was told that he had been brought to New York.
Shortly after Yaroshenko was brought to the United States the Russian
Embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. State Department
saying it was unacceptable that Moscow had not received proper
notification on the arrest, the Russian diplomat said, adding that similar
notes were sent to the New York office of the State Department and to the
prison's administration. "So far, we have received no official response,"
he said.
According to Yushmanov, Yaroshenko was dissatisfied with his U.S.
lawyer. "We recommended him several lawyers, and now they are contacting
with Yaroshenko's relatives to choose who will represent his interests and
what will be the line of defence," he said.
Yushmanov said five consular meetings with Yarochenko have been held
since his arrival in the United States. The next meeting will be held "in
the nearest future, maybe this week," he added.
According to earlier reports, in the recent years Yaroshenko has been
working under a contract in African countries. In late May, he arrived in
the Liberian capital Monrovia to prolong his contract. According to
unofficial information circulated by the press, Yaroskenko is suspected of
organizing drug trafficking between South America, Africa and Europe.
.Lavrov arrives in Kabul to attend international conference on
Afghanistan.
KABUL, July 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Tuesday arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul to attend an international
conference on Afghanistan.
The conference will be attended by foreign ministers and senior
officials from more than 70 world nations and international organizations.
The Kabul conference will reiterate the course towards gradual transition
of powers to the local authorities. The Karzai government will make public
its plans to improve the state administration system and the economic
situation in the country, to ensure law and human rights observance, and a
program for reconciliation and reintegration, a source in the Russian
Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass.
"The forum's basic task is to win the world community's support to
these plans, including the Afghanistan Development Program for 2010-2013,"
Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Andrei Avetisyan told Itar-Tass.
However, the Russian diplomat stressed the forum "is not a donor
conference," since it will not address issues of extra funding or meeting
new requests.
The situation in Afghanistan is still of serious concern for Moscow,
especially problems related to the drug threat. According to Avetisyan,
"for Russia, the issue of anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan is the most
pressing one, it is even more important than the fight against terrorism,
since the latter is sponsored by revenues from drug trafficking."
"We have been repeatedly raising this question in our contacts with
the Afghan side and with our international partners," the Russian diplomat
stressed. "I hope Sergei Viktorovich (Lavrov) will raise this problem
during the Kabul conference. Russia's voice should be heard."
As concerns the issue of the withdrawal of the International Security
Assistance Force from Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said "it
is possible only after Afghanistan forms really combat-effective national
armed forces that will be able to ensure security in the country and
successfully solve anti-terrorism and anti-drug tasks." In general, Moscow
"supports the idea of 'Afghanization' of the settlement process, in
particular, it stand for expanding competences of the Afghan government in
distributing the donor money." Moreover, Russia says that stability in
Afghanistan largely depends on the socio-economic revival of the country.
The Russian foreign minister is expected to reiterate Moscow's
readiness to participate in international projects on the restoration of a
number of industrial and agro-industrial facilities in Afghanistan built
years ago by Soviet specialists.
-0-ras
