US and Europe Plan Sanctions Against Belarus
By C. J. Chivers
The New York Times

Saturday 25 March 2006

Minsk, Belarus - The United States and Europe said Friday that they would impose sanctions against President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus and other top officials for cracking down on a peaceful protest over his re-election, which was widely seen as a sham.

The swift and nearly unanimous condemnations from Western nations widened their rift with Belarus and posed new challenges for their relations with Russia, which has stood behind Mr. Lukashenko.

The United States stopped short of cutting its ties with the Belarus government, but a senior State Department official said that travel and financial restrictions already in place on "fewer than a dozen" Belarussian government officials would probably be extended to more than 50, including Mr. Lukashenko.

...

The United States said that it "condemns the actions of the Belarussian security services" in which "they forcibly seized and detained Belarussian citizens who were peacefully demonstrating against the fraudulent March 19 election results," according to a State Department statement.