Ilyumzhinov sanctioned by U.S. ready to take 'lie detector' test
MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - FIDE head Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has informed the U.S. government about his readiness to take a lie detector test to prove the absence of contacts with Syrian citizens threatening the United States.
"I made the statement two weeks ago, and I declare this in public for the first time today; it [the statement] was made in a letter. I told the U.S. government that I was ready to take a polygraph test," Ilyumzhinov said at a press conference at Interfax on Thursday.
"I am ready to answer all questions concerning this case in a polygraph test at the headquarters of relevant authorities of the United States," the FIDE head said.
According to Ilyumzhinov, the U.S. Department of Treasury had provided him with documents, according to which he was put on the sanctions list. "I understood that the claims, in accordance with which I was included [in the list], were not serious. I did not meet with terrorists and people posing a threat to the United States," he said.
The U.S. Department of Treasury said on November 25, 2015, that FIDE head Ilyumzhinov and Russian Financial Alliance bank had been added to the sanctions list. It said Ilyumzhinov was put on the list for rendering financial support and acting in the interests of the Syrian government and the Syrian Central Bank.
A personal meeting between Ilyumzhinov and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was reported in April 2012. Back then, Ilyumzhinov told Interfax that his meeting with the Syrian president lasted for more than three hours.
"In 2012, in Chicago, where Nobel Prize winners were meeting and the conflict in Syria had just begun, I invited the winners discussing the venue of the next summit to hold it in Damascus," the FIDE head said at a press conference at Interfax on December 8. "If you are fighting for peace, let us hold the summit in Damascus," he said.
"Can Barack Obama make an appearance as a Nobel Prize winner? I brought that proposal to Damascus, met with the president, and we discussed that issue," the FIDE president said.
He also rejected claims of the U.S. Department of Treasury that he had had commercial projects with businessman George Haswani, who was also put under sanctions.
He said he had no business relations with the authorities or businessmen from Syria. "I do not have any commercial relations with Syrian citizens, either individuals or legal entities. I befriend, I meet with doctors, businessmen," Ilyumzhinov said.
The FIDE head also expressed his readiness to visit the United States and meet with officials from the Department of Treasury. "I will answer their questions if they have any to make clear this situation [his inclusion in the sanctions list]," Ilyumzhinov said.
