Thousands protest disputed Belarus elections

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

The crowd hooted when a large video screen showed a live statement from the head of the Central Election Commission, who hailed the vote - in which hard-line President Alexander Lukashenko was expected to be awarded a landslide win - as a success with minimal violations.

There were fears of violent confrontation as Alexander Milinkevich had called on supporters to come to the square to protest the vote, whose official results he said he will not accept. The government had warned that election-day gatherings would not be allowed.