Belarus Says Polish Embassy Is Spy Headquarters

State television broadcast accusations about Polish espionage (RFE/RL) 8 February 2006 -- The Belarusian counterintelligence service, the KGB, has accused the Polish Embassy in Minsk of spying.

In a program broadcast yesterday on Belarus state television, an unnamed KGB officer said that the Polish Embassy had become a headquarters for foreign secret services.

On the same program, a KGB spokesman said that foreign spies have stepped up their activities in Belarus ahead of the upcoming presidential elections. He said there was a concerted effort to "create scandals" that would undermine the country's stability.

Polish Embassy officials in Minsk criticized the report, which they said was aimed at creating a rift between Poland and Western countries.

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is running for a third term in the 19 March election.

The Polish government has been among the most outspoken critics of Lukashenka's regime.

(Belapan, Interfax, dpa)