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| - Thousands turned out to rally for an opposition candidate in the Belarusian capital Thursday, despite efforts by officials to close all squares, as the movement against incumbent Alexander Lukashenko retained its momentum before the vote. About 5,000 people gathered in Kiev Square in northern Minsk to support Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a candidate opposing Lukashenko in Sunday's polls, clapping, waving Belarusian flags, and shouting "Leave!" Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of ex-Soviet Belarus, has led an aggressive crackdown on the opposition ahead of polls on Sunday that are all but guaranteed to give him a sixth term in power. Tikhanovskaya has drawn huge crowds to campaign rallies throughout the country ahead of the vote after she was allowed to participate in place of her husband who was jailed and barred from running. The city hall in Minsk previously said the squares where she planned to meet supporters would be closed off for official concerts to celebrate railroad workers and higher education. But crowds turned up nonetheless and those in charge of the music switched from the official repertoire to Viktor Tsoi's perestroika song "Change!" which symbolises the voice of protest in ex-Soviet countries. None of the opposition leaders addressed the crowds though reports said Tikhanovskaya made an appearance at the park. Clapping, whistling and honking could be heard all around the area. Earlier Thursday, Tikhanovskaya's campaign manager was briefly detained, her office said. A spokeswoman for Tikhanovskaya told AFP that Maria Moroz was detained by the interior ministry after visiting the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk, then quickly announced she had been freed. The interior ministry told AFP that Moroz had been "invited for a conversation" and denied she had been arrested. Moroz later said she was warned by the police not to organise unrest. Lukashenko, who came to power in 1994 and is Europe's longest-serving leader, jailed two of his main rivals in the elections while another would-be candidate fled to Moscow fearing arrest. The 65 year-old strongman has accused Moscow and Western countries of meddling in the elections and last week his security services detained a group of Russians who the authorities said were plotting violent protests with members of the opposition. Lukashenko's security services last week also detained Vitali Shkliarov, a well-known political analyst who was born in Belarus and worked on the US presidential bids of Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders. tk-ma/bsp
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