By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Minsk: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed Vadim Zaitsev, head of the republic’s State Security Committee (KGB), the presidential press service said Friday.
“The president has decided to relieve Lt. Gen. Vadim Zaitsev of his duties as KGB chairman,” State Security Council head Leonid Maltsev said.
The decision follows the recent apparent suicide of KGB Lt. Col. Alexander Kazak. The 47-year-old was found dead of a gunshot wound in a forest in October.
Maltsev suggested that Zaitsev’s dismissal was really only a suspension until a high-level investigation into Kazak’s apparent suicide and other issues is completed, after which the KGB boss might eventually be reinstated.
If the investigation shows that he is in the clear, “there is no doubt that he will return to office,” Maltsev said.