14 January 2011

BELARUS/ POLAND/ GERMANY: Minsk Claims Warsaw, Berlin Planned Coup.

REUTERS/

   The state-controlled media accuse Poland and Germany's intelligence services of organizing a coup during December's presidential election.
   They claim "Poland became a launch pad for organizing forces capable of overthrowing the legitimate authorities of Belarus. Special training camps were set up there for activists. The future ruling class was trained there."
   And another said : "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were brought to Minsk in suitcases, accompanied by happy smiles and assurances of correct behavior."
   The troubled re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko saw widespread protests and hundreds of arrests. Four presidential candidates still remain in custody.
   International election monitors denounced the election and its vote count as flawed.
   Belarus has ordered the monitor, the OSCE, which criticized the police crackdown, to leave the country.
   A Polish official has called the charges "absurd."