Opposition wants G8 pressure on Belarus leader

MINSK, July 10 (Reuters) Belarussian opposition activists today urged Group of Eight leaders to try to persuade Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin at a summit this weekend to withdraw support for Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Western countries accuse Lukashenko of violating basic rights -- and rigging his own re-election -- in the ex-Soviet state, wedged between Russia and EU member Poland. US officials describe Belarus as ''Europe's last dictatorship''.

Putin, who hosts the July 15-17 summit in St Petersburg, is one of the Belarussian president's few allies. One of a handful of leaders to congratulate Lukashenko on winning a third term, he told his opponents to work constructively with the president.

A statement issued by Belarus's Committee for Victims of oppression said Lukashenko ''remains in power thanks to Russia's powerful political and economic support.'' ''You can demonstrate your commitment to democracy and human rights by persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his broad support for Lukashenko,'' it said in an appeal to summit participants.

The committee is headed by Nina Kulei, wife of Alexander Milinkevich, one of two opposition candidates in the March election, won by Lukashenko in a landslide.

The second opposition candidate, Alexander Kozulin, is on trial for hooliganism and incitement to mass disorder in connection with four days of unprecedented street protests sparked by the proclamation of the election results.

Kozulin faces up to six years in jail.

''The simplest step Lukashenko could make and which should be demanded from him would be to free all political prisoners and to put an end to political oppression,'' Kulei told reporters.

The United States and European Union have barred entry to Lukashenko and other officials in response to results giving the president 83 per cent of the vote to six per cent for Milinkevich.

They also blocked the officials' access to accounts held abroad.

Belarus introduced similar retaliatory measures.

Lukashenko is accused of hounding opponents, closing down independent media and systematically cheating in elections since the mid-1990s.

Genuinely popular among rank-and-file voters outside the capital, he says he has spared Belarus the instability and poverty of other ex-Soviet states.

REUTERS SY BST2103