BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2007

Thousands rally against Belarus gov't

By MARA D. BELLABY Associated Press Writer

MINSK, Belarus - Some 15,000 opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian government rallied Sunday to revitalize a campaign against the leader whom some Western countries have characterized as "Europe's last dictator."

Officers blocked demonstrators from gathering on the city's main square but they were allowed to march to a site about 1 1/2 miles away. Protesters rallied under police watch but without interference.

It was the largest opposition rally in the former Soviet republic since an April 2006 demonstration that followed on the previous month's unprecedented week of continuous protests against Lukashenko.

Although those protests attracted worldwide attention, opposition leaders held off calling for other large gatherings, aiming instead to work on grassroots organizing.

Sunday's rally sought to regain the momentum built up last year, and opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich told the crowd that the free world stood behind their efforts.

"We should understand that we are not alone. The democratic world and Europe stand together with us," said Milinkevich, who was the key figure of last year's protests against Lukashenko's disputed re-election to a third term.

March 25 has been a traditional day of demonstration for the opposition, marking what they call Freedom Day - the anniversary of the 1918 declaration of the first, short-lived independent Belarusian state.

Last year's demonstration ended with police clubbing demonstrators and arresting hundreds, including unsuccessful presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin, who later was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison.

Lukashenko has been banned from entering some Western countries because of his suppression of dissent in the nation of 10 million, where he has held on to power since 1994 through elections dismissed by the U.S. and European countries as illegitimate.

Lukashenko in turn claimed the West was plotting to unseat him.

The Belarusian leader has kept the country's economy largely under central control. Cheap natural gas and oil from Russia had helped the country sustain significant economic growth in recent years that bolstered Lukashenko's popularity.

But Russia this year hiked oil and gas prices for Belarus, putting Lukashenko under pressure. He has begun to speak about improving ties with European nations.

The opposition said at least 34 activists had been detained in the run-up to Sunday's rally and that 40 people were detained Sunday across the country.

Source:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4660611.html