BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/10/2007

Belarus leader denies anti-Semitism in his country

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko denied on Friday there was religious intolerance in the ex-Soviet republic, a week after Israel accused him of anti-Semitism.

Israel said last Friday it would reprimand Belarus' ambassador to the Jewish state, after Lukashenko said Jews "do not care" for the places they live in, referring to the Belarus city of Bobruisk and Israel.

German Nazis killed thousands of Bobruisk Jews and created a ghetto just outside the town.

"If anyone tells you that there is anti-Semitism in Belarus, or that we oppress Muslims here, don't believe it," Lukashenko told a meeting discussing religious issues.

"Only the enemies of Belarus can say such things about this sacred land, this sacred state, this sacred nation."

Early in his presidency, Lukashenko told German newspaper Handelsblatt that Hitler was not just associated with bad things. But since then he has accused the Belarus opposition of being sympathizers of fascism.

The West says Lukashenko suppresses human rights. He is banned from entry to the United States and the European Union, who denounced his re-election last year to a third term as election fraud.

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2680936220071026