VOA
News, 14 Aug 2001 14:51 UTC
Russia has dismissed media reports it plans to shut down its electronic
listening facilities in Cuba.
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov and Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov said they cannot confirm the reports.
Several Russian news media reported in their Tuesday editions that Russia is
ready to dismantle the electronic center at Lourdes in a suburb of Havana before
December 2001.
The media reports said Moscow has already begun withdrawing some one
thousand specialists and part of the equipment from the base.
The Lourdes facility was constructed during the Cold War and can monitor
electronic communications in the United States.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and DPA. | 
