Bomb blast in Belarus

A bomb blast, thought to be the work of a criminal gang, wounded 40 people outside a cafe in a town northeast of the Belarussian capital Minsk, officials said yesterday.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of systematically curbing human rights during 12 years in office, vowed additional measures to ensure the security of his 10 million citizens.

The bomb, packed with pieces of metal, went off on Thursday evening in the town of Vitebsk, near the border with Russia, a police spokesman said. A spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry said 36 people were taken to hospital.

Officials ruled out any link to terrorism. But Mr Lukashenko said tougher security measures were needed.

"No one will be needing bread or housing if every day we have explosions going off in our streets," the president told a congress of a youth organisation.