EU to slap sanctions on Belarus for detentions

Ratcheting up their stance on Belarus -- which they called "a sad exception" to democracy in Europe -- the leaders agreed to widen restrictions beyond the six visa bans now in place on Belarus officials.

They did not spell out the nature of the measures.

The leaders, meeting at a summit in Brussels, "decided to take restrictive measures against those responsible for violations of international electoral standards, including President Lukashenko," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said.

Belarus riot police earlier Friday quashed an unprecedented protest against the veteran president, smashing a tent camp in central Minsk and arresting hundreds of young opposition activists.

The opposition protests began after Lukashenko was swept back into power in Sunday's presidential election -- a vote widely accepted as unfair and slammed by the European Union earlier this week.

"We urge the Belarus authorities to respect the freedom of assembly and to release the prisoners," said Plassnik, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

The Belgian presidency of the leading Western election-monitoring body, the OSCE, also called on Minsk to halt the "persecution" of opposition activists and release those arrested.

"The authorities must immediately end the persecution of their opponents," the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, said in a statement.

EU leaders, as they arrived for the second day of their summit here, widely condemned the crackdown and said that Belarus's giant neighbour and ally Russia had to be engaged.

"We need to be more firm... and demonstrate that we are united inside the European Union about how we look at the relations with Belarus but also with Russia," said Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson.