President of Belarus, after protests, says we won't let our country be torn apart - Belta

President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that authorities would not let Belarus be ripped apart by instability after huge protests erupted following a presidential election on Sunday, the Belta news agency reported.

Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanouskaya has rejected the official results handing President Alexander Lukashenko a landslide victory, saying the poll was rigged and that protests which turned bloody on Sunday would continue.

"The response will be appropriate. We won't allow the country to be torn apart," Lukashenko was quoted by Belta as saying.