Belarus raps western 'interference' after rally

Belarussian demonstrators clash with riot police during a demonstration in Minsk at the weekend. Picture / Reuters

MINSK - Belarus has accused Sunday of trying to foment unrest on its streets, while the opposition pledged to maintain protests despite splits appearing in a movement that had hoped to bring down the government.

The Minsk government said the European Union and Washington were "on the verge of anti-Belarussian hysteria" in condemning police action and accusing President Alexander Lukashenko of electoral fraud.

Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich pledged new rallies and said the "bestial savagery" of the government showed it had lost all authority.

Milinkevich and fellow opposition leader Alexander Kozulin called the protests after losing presidential polls which gave Lukashenko, criticised in the West for his authoritarian rule but viewed by Moscow as an ally of sorts, 83 per cent a week ago.

"It is self-evident to objective observers that the situation in Belarus is absolutely calm," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"We urge the European Union and the United States to stop attempts to destabilise the country from abroad."

It said police had demonstrated restraint and moved in to disperse protesters only after many had marched off to a pre-trial detention centre at the urging of Kozulin, who was detained by police.

But giant neighbour the EU demanded Lukashenko, admired by many here as a man whose rule has saved Belarus from the turmoil that has befallen many ex-Soviet countries, release Kozulin and said it was "appalled" by the clashes.

On Sunday evening, up to 100 mostly young people gathered in sombre silence at a monument in central Minsk to put hundreds of candles on the ground to show solidarity with those detained.

"A government, which with bestial savagery ... scattered peaceful demonstrators, has completely destroyed its authority and lost the people's support," said Milinkevich in a statement.

"We are determined to continue mass protests against the falsification of the results of the elections. We will not wait five years to free the Belarussian people from the rule of those who long ago lost their legal and moral right to it."

The opposition had rallied up to 10,000 supporters over the last week -- protests unmatched in recent years in a country ruled with a Soviet-style authoritarian hand.

But it was not a good weekend for the movement, which had hoped to "liberate" Belarus from Lukashenko through protests.

Saturday's march on the detention centre, where opposition activists are held, exposed divisions in the anti-Lukashenko front that may hearten the president.

Milinkevich accused Kozulin of foolhardiness in leading the march after the end of the rally. That prompted Kozulin's staff to call their former ally a "coward".

They branded Milinkevich "a so-called democrat ... who was jealous of Kozulin during the peaceful protests since March 19, and did not have the strength to lead despite the money, publicity and support from Europe and the United States".

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he wanted to invite Milinkevich to an EU meeting next month, while the EU itself maintained its pressure on Lukashenko.

"The EU Presidency is appalled by the violence used against demonstrators by the Belarussian authorities," Austria said in a statement issued on behalf of the bloc.

- REUTERS