Thousands of Belarusians defied a massive show of force by the hard-line government in Minsk today, protesting in streets swarming with riot police and gathering peacefully in a park to denounce President Alexander Lukashenko after a disputed election returned him to power.

THE European Union was joined by the United States yesterday in imposing sanctions on Belarus in retaliation for a crackdown on political protesters after an election that both said was fraudulent.

Police swiftly ended an unprecedented protest in Belarus on today, arresting hundreds of demonstrators in a pre-dawn raid.

Riot police stormed the opposition tent camp in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, detaining scores of demonstrators who had spent a fourth night in a central square to protest at President Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in a disputed election.

Final results from last weekend’s presidential election in Belarus confirm a landslide victory for incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, a top electoral official in the former Soviet republic said today.

OPPOSITION leader Alexander Milinkevich said yesterday that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko must be excluded from any rerun of presidential elections.

Thousands of Belarusians demonstrated in a central Minsk square for the third night in a row tonight, swelling the ranks of a core group who spent the previous night there to protest at the extension of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.

Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich said today that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko must be excluded from a rerun of presidential elections that is being demanded by the opposition.

Hundreds of demonstrators shivered and cheered through the freezing pre-dawn today in the capital of Belarus, trying to keep up momentum in a drive to overturn a landslide election that gave a new term to authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

EUROPEAN election monitors have declared that presidential elections in Belarus were flawed, but fear of brutal response from authorities makes a repeat of Ukraine’s Orange revolution look unlikely.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, declared the overwhelming winner of weekend elections, said today that his opponents had failed to topple him in a foreign-backed “revolution".

The European Union today said the presidential election in Belarus was marred by a “climate of intimidation”.

Belarus’ main opposition candidate demanded a new vote today as President Alexander Lukashenko stormed to victory by a massive margin.

SEVERAL thousand opposition supporters gathered on a main square in central Minsk last night as polls closed in a disputed presidential election.

The main Belarusian opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, tonight called for new presidential elections as thousands of his supporters jammed a main square in central Minsk to protest the ballot that authorities said would hand incumbent Alexander Lukashenko a huge victory.

WITH media under tight control, parliament in his pocket, the opposition persecuted and powerful Russia on his side, no one doubts Alexander Lukashenko will be proclaimed the winner of Belarus’s presidential election.