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21 December 2002 - 15:45 AMT

AZERI DEFENSE MINISTER ACCUSED RUSSIAN FEDERAL SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTOR OF LYING

Azeri defense minister Safar Abiyev called the accusations of espionage brought by Russian Federal Security Council head Nikolay Patrushev against Azeri general Vagif Rasulov “lying.” As reported by “Arminfo” agency, in a conversation with journalists the minister emphasized that the Azeri party had answered the Russian Federal Security Council head’s statement. “Our response is that Vagif Rasulov is in Baku for a long time, the term of his service has expired and he is appointed for new office,” – the minister stated, adding that “the person, who speaks about espionage is the spy.” Let us remind that the other day Russian Federal Security Council director made a statement on suppressing the espionage activities of Azeri representative in the CIS military cooperation staff Vagif Rasulov, which threatened the state interests of Russia. A package of documents was confiscated from him, including those representing state secret. Rasulov was evicted from the country and deprived of entry right for 5 years.