| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
'Growing U.S. concerns' over Yukos arrest, official says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials have held "very pointed conversations at high levels" with the Russian government over whether the arrest of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was politically motivated, a senior State Department official said. U.S. officials have been cautious in their public comments on the charges against Khodorkovsky but Sen. John McCain, had a much blunter assessment, saying the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin "is moving in the wrong direction -- rapidly." In an impassioned Senate speech, McCain said Khodorkovsky "committed what in the Kremlin's eyes is the worst crime of all: supporting the political opposition to President Putin. Such an alternative center of power could threaten the Kremlin's supreme political control." He added: "It is time to send a signal to President Putin's government that undemocratic behavior will exclude Russia from the company of Western democracies." The State Department official expressed "growing concerns" that the arrest was politically motivated, and warned that a downslide of democracy in Russia could affect long-term relations between Washington and Moscow. Khodorkovsky, who resigned as chief of Yukos Oil Company after his October 24 arrest on charges of fraud and tax evasion totaling more than $1 billion, is a pro-Western businessman who has been at odds with Moscow, The seizure last week by Russian prosecutors of 44 percent of the shares of Yukos Oil Company, stock that was tied to Khodorkovsky, sent Russian stock markets into turmoil, fueling U.S. concerns about the impact on investment in Russia. The senior State Department official said private conversations with the Russians have been frank. "Clearly there is a political factor here which in our view may well be the driving factor and why the law is being applied selectively to one oligarch and not to anyone else, at least at this stage," the official said. Khodorkovsky's "very open and aggressive political activities," including his support for political parties and work with a foundation that supports democracy and civil society, could have presented "a challenge to the authority of the state," the official said. "There may have been a concern that Khodorkovsky was becoming too independent, and less susceptible to government control," he said. In addition, the official said that Khodorkovsky was seen as a "poster child" for progressive business practices in Russia, which could have threatened a government that typically exerts strong control over businesses. "The fact that someone who is reforming himself perhaps more than others was the target of attack of course raises questions as to whether these are seen as unqualified good things by the authorities or whether some of the shadier methods" used by Russian businesses in the past were preferred. At Camp David, even before the Yukos sandal, Bush raised U.S concerns with Putin about where Russia was going in terms of its democratization and commitment to the rule of law, pointing to a lack of press freedom in Russia and the Kremlin's interference in recent Chechen elections. But the Yukos issue, the official said, "raises new questions about whether rule of law is being applied selectively, and whether the progress toward opening and liberalizing the Russian economy is going to be put at risk." However, the official said, the strategic relationship with Russia continues to be important. "Obviously, there are common interests involved in how we deal with Iran, and North Korea, post-war Iraq, the Middle East peace process, Afghanistan, and many other current geopolitical issues where cooperation is important to both sides," the official said. "That work is continuing." But he warned: "Over time, this issue could have some broader implications for the relationship, but I think it's far too early to make any predictions in that regard." The official said while the U.S.-Russian relationship is strong enough to withstand shocks such as this, "there are some new uncertainties in the relationship at this stage."
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
