BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
21/01/2011
Belarus' president takes hard line at inauguration
The authoritarian president of Belarus has taken the oath of office for a fourth term with a warning that no dissent will be tolerated.
Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected last month in a vote widely seen as fraudulent. He has since cracked down on the opposition, including jailing several of the candidates who opposed him.
He said during Friday's inauguration that Belarus "has exhausted the limits of revolutions and upheavals" and his government will "safeguard security and stability against plots from within and outside the country."
He has accused Poland and Germany of trying to stoke an uprising against him, claims both countries have rejected as absurd.
Lukashenko has never tolerated much dissent during the 16 years he has ruled the former Soviet republic.
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