Police in the former Soviet republic of Belarus have clashed with protesters, injuring several, at an illegal rally staged by demonstrators demanding President Alexander Lukashenko's resignation.
Several hundred protesters massed in October Square opposite Lukashenko's office to mark the anniversary of the founding in 1918 of the Belarussian People's Republic, crushed after little more than a year by Bolshevik troops.
"Down with Lukashenko!" chanted demonstrators waving the historic red-and-white Belarussian flag, revived after the collapse of Soviet rule but then banned at Lukashenko's behest.
Participants said a number of protesters had suffered minor injuries in the scuffles. About 100 activists, led by former member of parliament Andrei Klimov, moved to a location several streets away and were allowed to continue their protest.
Belarus's opposition takes heart from the protest movements which led to authorities being toppled in other ex-Soviet states - like Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan .
But opposition to Lukashenko remains small and divided, with activists fearing repressive measures. A Belarussian identity was crushed under communism and any post-Soviet revolt would be hampered by a lack of the nationalist sentiment present in the other countries.
Belarussian police routinely break up protests staged by the small and disorganised opposition.
First elected in 1994 on promises to uproot corruption and form a "union state" with Russia, Lukashenko keeps a tight grip on his country of 10 million now bordering the European Union.
He is shunned by Western countries, which accuse him of cracking down on the opposition and muzzling the media.
They also criticise as fraudulent Belarussian elections as well as a referendum last year in which Lukashenko won backing for constitutional changes enabling him to run for a third term in 2006.
Lukashenko's previous tolerance for protests by small businessmen appeared to snap this month when one trader was jailed after a protest against a new value added tax.
Leaders of protests with overtly political slogans against Lukashenko are routinely sent to prison after their rallies are dispersed.
Prosecutors have launched legal proceedings against one opposition leader, Nikolai Statkevich, who played an active part in last year's protests against the October referendum.