BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/02/2006

U.S. diplomat warns Belarus not to manipulate election

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - A top U.S. diplomat warned Belarus on Friday not to manipulate results in next month's tense presidential election, in which authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko is seeking a third term.

Lukashenko's main challenger, Alexander Milinkevich, has said opposition backers will hold demonstrations if the March 19 election is tallied fraudulently - and concerns are high that any such large gathering would be swiftly and harshly put down by police and troops.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer called on all sides to avoid violence, but "there is a bigger responsibility on the part of the government - since they are the ones with security forces, they are the ones with guns, batons and other means, tear gas - to avoid use of force and to make sure that the election is free and fair."

"A fraudulent election will obviously not help relations and those who would engage in that kind of activity I hope will not underestimate the resolve of the European and U.S. communities," Kramer told a news conference at the end of a two-day visit.

Belarus already is a virtual pariah for Western countries, which have denounced Lukashenko's intolerance of opposition, moves against independent news media and other tough measures. Lukashenko, who is an open admirer of the Soviet Union and wants to bring his country into close union with Russia, in turn expresses wide disdain for the West.

In a speech to students at a military institute on Friday, Lukashenko portrayed himself as defending the nation's youth against foreign influences.

"Our Western opponents very well understand that the most important thing is to take ownership of the minds of the young people in order to then manipulate them and lure them into illegal activities," he said. "They are trying to inspire them with the idea that the most important thing in life is their own advantage and pleasure."

Lukashenko has accused the United States and other Western countries of backing the mass demonstrations in the ex-Soviet state of Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan over the past two years. Those demonstrations, which all broke out after disputed elections, drove longtime leaders from power in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan and forced an election rerun in Ukraine that was won by pro-West reformer Viktor Yushchenko.

He alleges the West aims to provoke similar unrest in Belarus.

"I'm not here pushing people to go into the streets," Kramer said. "But if it's what people choose to do, they have a right to do it in a peaceful way."

Source:

http://www.kyivpost.com/bn/23940/

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