BBC Monitoring: China asks Russia to ban Moscow briefing by [group]

08/11/2001

Excerpt from report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 11 August: The Chinese embassy has sent a request to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs to prohibit representatives of the Falun Gong religious [group] from holding a news conference in Moscow on Monday [13 August], the ITAR-TASS correspondent was told by the Russian ministry.

The letter sent to the Internal Affairs Ministry from the military attache's office at the Chinese embassy expresses respect for Russian police officers[...].

The message goes on to request that a news conference due to be held on Monday in Moscow by the Falun Gong [group], which is banned in China, should be prevented.

The Russian Internal Affairs Ministry told the ITAR-TASS correspondent that no decision has been made on the request to date...

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