BELARUS: Rene van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) begins rare visit to Belarus

Rene van der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) arrives on a rare visit to Belarus. A leader of the European rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, began a rare visit to Belarus on Thursday (January 18) hoping for a dialogue with the authorities, but the opposition said he should have set conditions for the trip. Belarus is largely isolated by the West, which accuses President Alexander Lukashenko of crushing human rights, rigging elections and stifling independent media. Belarus was suspended from membership of the 46-nation Council of Europe in 1997. Rene van der Linden, President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), is one of the most senior Western officials to visit Belarus in recent years. "I am here at the invitation of the chairperson of the parliament but I also hope to talk to civil society and all political parties," van der Linden told reporters at Minsk airport. Linden plans to meet officials and key opposition figures, but there are no plans for a meeting with Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994. The European Union and the United States imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Lukashenko and top officials over last year's election, in which the president was announced the winner with 83 percent of the vote. The West and the opposition said the poll was fraudulent.

ITN Source | January 19, 2007

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