- CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The United States rejects the results of the Belarus
election and believes the campaign that re-elected President Alexander
Lukashenko was conducted in a "climate of fear," the White House
said on Monday.
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- "We support the call for a new election,"
said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
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- The United States had complained bitterly
about events in Belarus ahead of the election.
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- McClellan warned authorities in Belarus
against "threatening or detaining those exercising their political
rights in the coming days and beyond," a reference to protests that
have been reported there.
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- "The United States does not accept
the results of the election. The election campaign was conducted in a climate
of fear. It included arrests and beatings and fraud," McClellan said.
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- Washington was ready to cooperate with
the European Union to take action against those responsible for election
fraud and human rights abuses in Belarus, he told reporters.
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- Both the United States and the EU have
accused Lukashenko of abandoning democratic principles and engaging in
human rights abuses. They threatened sanctions if the election was found
to be fraudulent.
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- State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
noted that the U.S. support for opposition calls for a new election was
rhetorical. Washington had not decided on any concrete ways that it might
help the opposition force a new vote, he said.
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- Washington was also ready to impose further
limited sanctions against Belarus, such as expanding a list of senior officials
banned from visiting the United States, McCormack said.
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- A U.S. official, who requested anonymity,
acknowledged the United States had little sway over Lukashenko.
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- "The truth is we have little leverage
over him, because we have limited economic or diplomatic ties -- and for
that matter nor does Europe," the official said. "So, it's really
up to the Russians, who have close integration with Belarus. But they are
not exactly looking like they are ready to smack Lukashenko upside the
head."
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