Thatcher PR Man to Buff Image of Belarus

Margaret Thatcher's favourite public relations man, Tim Bell, signed a contract this week to improve the image of the government of Belarus, described by the White House as a "repressive dictatorship on the doorstep of the European Union".

Lord Bell confirmed yesterday that he signed the contract with the government of Alexander Lukashenko at the weekend, but declined to give details.

Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, called Belarus "the last remaining true dictatorship in the heart of Europe". President Lukashenko and his ministers are barred from travelling to the US and the EU.

Mr Lukashenko secured 82 per cent of the vote in presidential elections in 2006. The same year the White House said his government had "a track record of fraudulent elections; state-orchestrated 'disappearances' of opponents; imprisonment of peaceful, democratic political figures on spurious charges; and repressive tactics to intimidate civil society".

Lord Bell said the role of Bell Pottinger, his company, would be to improve the reputation of Belarus and to correct misinformation. It had been claimed that the government was anti-Semitic, for instance, but Belarus had a thriving Jewish community and relations with Israel were improving. Israel and the US condemned Mr Lukashenko last year after he accused Jews of turning the city of Bobruisk into a pig sty.

"Everybody is entitled to an advocate," Lord Bell said. "I don't see any reason why I or my company should follow some arbitrary set of ethical values about what it should or shouldn't do.

I can't get embroiled in the double standards and hypocrisy of international relationships."

His first challenges will be parliamentary elections next month and a World Cup qualifying match with England in Minsk on October 15. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international organisations will monitor the elections.

Each seat would be contested by opposition candidates, Lord Bell said. The government had released some political prisoners and more were likely to follow.

Apart from Lady Thatcher, whom he advised in three election campaigns, Lord Bell represents Boris Berezovsky, the Russian tycoon, and other clients have included Rupert Murdoch, Conrad Black, Boris Yeltsin, the Sultan of Brunei, and Lady Thatcher's son, Mark.