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MINSK, March 16 (RIA Novosti) - Senior Belarusian officials said Thursday they had evidence of an American-backed plot to overthrow the country's current regime during Sunday's presidential elections, and said any attempts at disruption would be classified as terrorism.
Security service head Stepan Sukhorenko showed a press conference in the capital, Minsk, a video of an interview with a man he said was one of those involved in the plot. The man said he had been at a training camp in Georgia at which training was provided by "four Arabs [and] officers of the former Soviet army".
The man also said a colonel from the Georgian security services and American instructors had conducted examinations, and that the Americans had told them to bomb four polling stations at schools in Minsk during voting Sunday.
"The Americans told us to organize four explosions at schools. The place and time [of the attacks] were to be told [to us] later. Concrete locations were not indicated," the man said.
He also showed video footage he said was of Georgian nationals confessing that they were to deliver money and "everything necessary" to stage disturbances on March 19. He said other attacks may be in the making.
Sukhorenko said all attempts at disruption would be seen as terrorism. "Anyone who will take to the streets in a bid to destabilize the situation will face terrorism charges," he warned.
The punishment for acts of terrorism in Belarus is 8 years to life in prison or the death penalty.
The security chief's warning against street rallies on election day is an attempt on the part of the Belarusian government to prevent a "color revolution" in the country.
Belarus' beleaguered opposition has been inspired by the recent triumphs of democracy in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, where peaceful protests against election rigging led to the overthrow of governments.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the U.S. State Department, has been routinely harassing opposition leaders and Western NGOs, which are believed to have played a crucial role in orchestrating the color revolutions in the three post-Soviet states.
On Thursday, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis criticized the Belarusian leader for creating a climate of fear and intimidation and expressed doubts that Belarus' March 19 elections would be free and fair.
Belarus remains the only European nation that is not a member of the Council of Europe.
