Belarussian leader labels Bush "terrorist no. 1"

MINSK, Mar 19 (Reuters) Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, derided in Washington for running ''Europe's last dictatorship'', hit back today by denouncing US President George W Bush as ''terrorist No. 1 on the planet''.

''Bush is terrorist no 1 on the planet,'' Lukashenko told reporters after voting in Belarus's presidential election.

''To crush a state openly and then to go ahead and kill presidents. What is there to say?'' Lukashenko was responding to questions about a report submitted by Bush's administration to Congress accusing the Belarussian leader of accumulating large sums of money and selling arms to countries like Iran, Sudan and Syria.

The Belarussian leader has long criticised Washington's interventions in Iraq, Yugoslavia and other countries and rejects US allegations that he denies human rights.

Genuinely popular in his country of 10 million, Lukashenko is virtually certain to defeat three challengers in todayy's poll. He tells voters he has provided them with stability and a degree of prosperity not known in nearby ex-Soviet states.

In his comments, Lukashenko dismissed any suggestions of illicit arms sales to countries accused by Washington of backing terrorism. Bush's report, he said, was ''petty blackmail''.

''If Belarus had interfered in sponsoring terrorism, the situation would have been stabilised a long time ago,'' Lukashenko said, adding he was willing to disclose to Bush any details of his income.

''Please tell him that whatever money he has found, he can have it,'' he said. ''Let him look after his own income.'' And he dismissed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's comment -- nearly a year ago -- describing Belarus as ''the last true dictatorship in the centre of Europe''.

''If someone is happy calling me a dictator, that's just fine,'' he said.

REUTERS SY BS2059