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| - The Baltic states on Monday banned embattled Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko while he cracked down further on the opposition movement following a huge rally at the weekend. EU members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced entry bans against Lukashenko and 29 other high-ranking officials, citing human rights violations. The sanctions from Minsk's ex-Soviet neighbours came after the third weekend of mass protests since a disputed presidential election on August 9, claimed by both Lukashenko and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who has taken shelter in Lithuania. "We are sending the message that we need to do more than just issue statements, we must also take concrete action," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP. The Belarusian foreign ministry said the sanctions would be counterproductive. "The history of our independent country shows eloquently that any attempts at sanctions on Belarus only lead their initiators to the opposite effect," ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said in a statement. But Belarus would be "obliged to take appropriate retaliatory measures," he warned. "We will patiently wait for the moment when common sense prevails in the heads of our partners." The European Union is also seeking to impose new travel bans and asset freezes on Lukashenko's circle to punish those responsible for violence, arrests and vote fraud. The latest sanctions came following mass opposition protests in Minsk on Sunday with an estimated turnout of more than 100,000 people. Showing no inclination to soften their tactics, the Belarusian authorities on Monday detained a member of the opposition's Coordination Council, set up by Tikhanovskaya's allies to organise a peaceful transfer of power. Vlasova, a lawyer and international mediator, was detained after a search of her home, fellow Coordination Council member Pavel Latushko, a former arts minister, told AFP. He said the search was carried out by officers investigating financial wrongdoing from a state audit body, while the grounds for Vlasova's detention were not known. She was the third Coordination Council member to be detained. Other members, including Nobel-Prize winning author Svetlana Alexievich, have been summoned for questioning as "witnesses" over a probe Belarus has opened into an alleged attempt to seize power. Also on Monday, Belarusian border guards refused entry to the country's Catholic Archbishop, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, without explanation, even though he is a citizen. The 74-year-old archbishop had condemned violence by police and prison guards against detained protesters. Lukashenko on Monday acknowledged the country he has led since 1994 was "somewhat authoritarian" in comments to the head of the Supreme Court. Speaking after perhaps the largest rally against his rule in Minsk, where a large group of protesters had assembled out his official residence, the leader said that people were calling for "changes," dangling the possibility of public consultation on constitutional reforms, which he suggested could be aimed at making courts more independent. Lukashenko insisted, however, that in his view Belarusian courts were "the most independent." He rejected an opposition demand for a return to the 1994 Constitution in use before he pushed through changes increasing his own presidential powers. The Peace March event was held on Lukashenko's 66th birthday and demonstrators left ironic gifts outside the Palace of Independence, guarded by heavily armed riot police and snipers. The interior ministry said Monday that 173 people had been detained at Sunday's rally in Minsk, Russia's TASS state news agency reported. Numerous journalists working for international media including AFP had their Belarusian foreign ministry accreditation revoked ahead of the protest without explanation as the authorities have sought to hamper press coverage. The Belarusian Association of Journalists said nine journalists were detained by police over the weekend. tk-am/spm
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