Belarus protest leader 'detained' at border

MINSK, Sept 08 (BBC/Reuters): A Belarus opposition leader has reportedly been detained at the border with Ukraine the day after her disappearance.

State media report that Maria Kolesnikova was held at the border early on Tuesday morning.

It comes the day after witnesses reportedly saw masked men bundle her into a minibus.

She is one of three women who joined forces to challenge President Alexander Lukashenko in August's election.

Mass protests followed his re-election amid allegations of vote-rigging. Authorities said more than 600 people were arrested on Sunday on the fourth consecutive weekend of anti-government demonstrations.

Mr Lukashenko has ruled his country since 1994. He has accused Western powers of interference.

But he has been supported by President Vladimir Putin of Russia and is expected to visit Moscow "in the coming days".

The EU demanded the release of all political prisoners on Monday and said it was planning to impose sanctions.

There are conflicting reports about the opposition figure's whereabouts. As yet officials have not confirmed what has happened to her, and it is unclear exactly what happened at the border crossing.

A Belarus border official reportedly said Ms Kolesnikova was detained at the Ukrainian border early on Tuesday. Two other opposition members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, crossed the border.

The three were in a BMW, the official said. At the crossing, the car "accelerated sharply", and Ms Kolesnikova "found herself outside the vehicle". The official said she was "pushed out of it" and it continued to move towards Ukraine. She is now in detention, he added.

Ukraine has confirmed that only the two men had arrived. Anton Geraschenko, Ukraine's deputy internal affairs minister, described the two men's departure as "forcible expulsion".

"Maria Kolesnikova could not be expelled from Belarus, because this brave woman took action to prevent her movement across the border," he wrote in a Facebook post. "She remained on the territory of the Republic of Belarus."

She is reported to have torn up her passport at the border so she could not enter Ukraine, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency which is citing "informed sources".

The European Union aims to impose economic sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials including the country's interior minister by mid-September, three EU diplomats said, in response to an Aug. 9 election that the West says was rigged.

Almost a month into mass demonstrations against the outcome of the contest, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory to prolong his 26-year-old rule, the EU aims to punish the government crackdown and support calls for fresh elections.

"We initially agreed on 14 names but many states felt that was not sufficient. We have now reached consensus on another 17," one EU diplomat said. "These are senior officials responsible for the election, for violence and for the crackdown."

EU foreign ministers gave their broad political approval for the sanctions - EU travel bans and asset freezes - at a meeting in Berlin late last month but did not decide who to target.