Riot police in Belarus have broken up a five-day demonstration over the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. Some 200 protesters were arrested and loaded on to waiting trucks after around 100 troops surrounded October Square in the capital Minsk in the early hours.

Groups of demonstrators had camped out in freezing weather in the square since Sunday's poll - condemned by the opposition and Western observers as flawed. During his 12 years in office, Lukashenko has shown little tolerance for dissent. But despite this he is popular among huge numbers of Belarussians for having provided relative political and economic stability.

The former Soviet republic became independent in 1991 but a push to revive the Belarussian language and culture was crushed by Lukashenko. The opposition says it will press ahead with plans for a mass rally in Minsk tomorrow - the anniversary of the short-lived Belarussian republic of 1918.

PHOTO CAPTION

Police detain supporters of opposition presidential candidate Alexander Milinkevich at a makeshift camp in central Minsk, March 24, 2006. (REUTERS)