"I can only say good words about [Alexander] Lukashenko," he told a news conference at RIA Novosti. "We were good colleagues in the past."
Akayev sharply criticized Western views of Lukashenko, who Washington has dubbed "Europe's last dictator", calling such epithets "a great exaggeration." He also expressed his "sympathy toward the Belarus people."
With about 300 demonstrators camped out on the main square of the capital, Minsk, in protest against Lukashenko's landslide win in Sunday's vote, Akayev said he was impressed with the "peaceful response" of the Belarusian opposition to the election results and the restraint shown by the Belarusian authorities.
Meanwhile, the Belarus opposition continued Wednesday its protests with claims of vote rigging, but asked supporters to refrain from causing trouble.
The opposition's official site posted a message instructing the protesters to avoid any confrontation with the police and show policemen their personal belongings if asked to do so.
"Do not refuse [to show your belongings]," the message said. "If they [the police] attempt to search you personally, it is an official search and they need a warrant."
Former collective farm boss Lukashenko, whose regime has also been branded an "outpost of tyranny" by Washington, was re-elected for a third five-year term with 82.6% of the vote. European representatives said polling had been conducted in a "climate of intimidation," but the president is known to have support in his homeland for providing relative economic stability in comparison with other former Soviet states.
Opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich was a distant second with 6%, while Liberal Democratic leader Sergei Gaidukevich garnered 3.5%, and Alexander Kozulin, leader of the Social-Democratic Party, took 2.3%. Turnout was officially 92.6%.
