Post date: Jul 09, 2013 12:35:19 PM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calls on Egyptian leadership to hold free and fair elections; says Russia never received any notifications from the UK about 'Magnitsky list'.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 9, 2013) (REUTERS) - Egypt should strive for a peaceful transition of power in fair elections, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday (July 9) in comments underlining Moscow's uneasiness with the ousted Islamist President Mohammed Mursi.
Lavrov's comments came as Egypt's interim authorities are seeking speedy elections to put an end to unrest after last week's army ouster of Mursi who had been propelled to power by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood."We support any efforts aimed at ending any manifestations of violence and confrontation, that are aimed at stabilizing the situation, and at the swiftest possible shift to the framework of political process, which should allow the preparation and realization of transparent, inclusive, free and far elections," Lavrov said when asked about Egypt at a news conference.
"This is also important for the regional affairs to move down a slightly different path than they are going right now, because the leading role of Egypt as a major Arab state, as a recognised leader of the League of Arab States, is missing. Unfortunately, the Egyptian leadership being engaged in the internal affairs obviously can not pay as much attention to the regional problems as they deserve," he added.
Russia tends to oppose efforts to oust elected rulers, has expressed concern about the consequences of the Arab Spring revolts, and says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's exit from power cannot be a precondition for a peace process.
Lavrov also said Russia never received any official notifications from the UK on banning Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as the British media said on Tuesday.
"We never received any official notifications from the authorities of Great Britain on this matter. What's more, the authorities of the United Kingdom emphasized more than once in the past that they were not willing to make any such lists. I do not exclude that here we can talk about a provocation, because there are a lot of 'hot' issues in the European and the world media at the moment, and maybe someone wants to distract the public attention from those issues," Lavrov said.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the UK Home Office barred 60 Russian officials who were allegedly involved in the prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from travelling into the country.
The U.S. have already issued the Magnitsky Act - a list of Russians to be barred entry to the United States under a law penalising Moscow for alleged human rights abuses.
The Magnitsky Act is named after Magnitsky who died in a Moscow jail in 2009 while awaiting trial on tax evasion charges. Relatives and former colleagues say he was jailed by the same officials he had accused of stealing $230 million from the state through fraudulent tax rebates.
His death underscored the dangers of challenging the Russian state and deepened Western concerns about human rights and the rule of law in Russia.
Passage of the Magnitsky Act in December of last year added to tension in ties already strained by disagreement over issues ranging from the conflict in Syria to Russia's treatment of Kremlin critics and Western-funded non-governmental organisations since Putin returned to the Kremlin for a six-year term last May.