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U.S. apologizes to Russia for late notification on Yaroshenko's arrest

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The U.S. Department of State has apologized to Russia for a delayed notification on the arrest of a Russian pilot in Liberia, suspected of drug smuggling.

The U.S. Department of State has apologized to Russia for a delayed notification on the arrest of a Russian pilot in Liberia, suspected of drug smuggling.

The Russian Foreign Ministry criticised on Wednesday the United States over the detention of Konstantin Yaroshenko, 41, saying it the Russian was practically kidnaped and the incident was a violation of international law.

"We just happened to send [the notice] to the wrong embassy. Normally we try to arrange these consular notifications within 72 hours and we didn't discover our error until it was after that period of time," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told journalists.

"We pressed the wrong button on the fax machine, to be brutally frank," he said, but refused to name the embassy that subsequently received the notification.

"We have apologized to Russia," Crowley said adding that the United States considers the matter to be resolved.

Yaroshenko along with other members of an alleged drug trafficking group, was detained in Liberia in May. On Tuesday, a New York city court arrested them. They are accused of trafficking cocaine to South America, Africa and Europe mainly from Liberia and Venezuela.

All of the members of the group have denied the accusations; however, if convicted, they may face from 10 years imprisonment to a life sentence.

The group was rooted out by Liberia and later U.S. and Liberian national security services conducted a special operation and arrested the members of the group.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that on June 28 it sent an official notice to the U.S. State Department with demands to clarify the situation and explain the activities of the U.S. authorities. On July 14, the ministry invited U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle to discuss the inadmissibility of actions conducted by the U.S. authorities during the Yaroshenko's arrest and his transfer to New York.

 

WASHINGTON, July 23 (RIA Novosti)

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