Belarus jails 600 for election protests

Police officials said the protesters would be held for up to 15 days while prosecutors probed their alleged involvement in "organising mass disturbances" – a crime that carries a sentence of up to 15 years.

Lukashenko vowed Monday to come down hard on all those responsible for taking part in Sunday's unauthorized demonstration against his regime.

The wave of arrests left relatives searching for loved ones in the city's prisons, with groups scouring the long list of names posted on the walls of one facility and waiting outside its entrance gate in hopes receiving any news.

Once labelled as the last dictator of Europe by Washington, Lukashenko was re-elected to a fourth term Sunday with nearly 80% of the ballot on Soviet-style turnout of more than 90%.

His nearest rival received less than 3% of the vote in an election that the challengers vowed to contest even before the results became official.

Seven of Lukashenko's nine election rivals were arrested in what appears to be a massive crackdown on the opposition, with five candidates beaten up by riot police.

The Belarussian justice ministry also threatened to ban parties and movements that took part in the protests, with the warning affecting organisations headed by two of the challengers.

The clampdown came despite signals in the last months that Lukashenko was seeking to smooth his isolated former Soviet country's frayed relations with both the European Union and Russia.

EU officials had promised to offer Belarus up to 3.5 billion dollars in loans should it stage a free and fair election. And Russia resolved most of its trade conflicts with its smaller neighbour in the run-up to the vote.

But while Russia refused to condemn the violence, with President Dmitry Medvedev calling it an "internal matter" for Belarus, Belarus was roundly admonished by both the White House and the European Union.