BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2008

Riot police clash with demonstrators in Belarus

There have been violent scenes in Minsk, after riot police clashed with thousands of demonstrators at a banned rally. Protestors waving EU flags chanted "Long live Belarus" as they tried to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the first, independent, Belarusian state. Eyewitnesses say police used batons to break up the rally.

It's claimed up to 100 people were arrested. In recent years the rally has become a platform for protest against President Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian government.

Relations between Lukashenko and the West appear to be worsening.

He has been dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington, which this week halved staff numbers at its Minsk embassy at Belarus' request.

The authorities in Minsk also claim to have uncovered a US spying ring, something denied by Washington.

Source:

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=477115&lng=1

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