U.S. State Department: "No connection beetwen Ambassador Harnish, death of his former interpreter and a sex ring"

According to the Washington Post, a spokesman noted that the U.S. Embassy has helped in the investigation of the sex ring and that two Azerbaijani citizens are scheduled to go on trial.

"There is no connection between either of these cases" and the reassignment of Ambassador Reno L. Harnish III, said Terry Davidson of the department's European Bureau.

Mr. Harnish returned to Washington to take up his promotion to principal deputy assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment and science, Mr. Davidson said.

The Washington Postcnoted earlier that the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, has been denying for months stories in the Azerbaijani and Russian press that linked Mr. Harnish's departure to an investigation into a sex ring that involved the smuggling of young Azerbaijani women into the United States and to the recent killing of Zarifa Jabiyeva, the ambassador's former interpreter. The liberal Web site www.huffingtonpost.com this week posted a United Press International story about this.

Mr. Davidson said the reports "look more like disinformation than news reporting."

He said the embassy helped Azerbaijani authorities and the FBI in the investigation of two Azerbaijani citizens convicted in New York two years ago for their part in the trafficking of the women.

"The FBI has been working closely with Azerbaijani law-enforcement authorities since then to help bring others who may have been involved in the case to justice," he said. "As a direct result of this cooperation, two more Azerbaijani citizens have since been arrested in Baku and are scheduled to go on trial."

Mr. Davidson also said the killing of the ambassador's interpreter is not related to the investigation into the sex ring.