A more blatant example of a government conspiracy you could not wish to see.
Yes it is early, but first impressions are that this has all the hallmarks of a psy-ops type operation.
The President of Belarus is a dictator with a long record of brutal suppression of political opposition. The media (-only a couple of TV stations and
a tiny handful of radio stations and newspapers) are tightly monitored & pro-government.
The President rules by decree, surrounded by blank-faced 'yes-men'. The leader of the opposition disappeared in a pool of blood several years ago.
Mass demonstrations were brutally suppressed a couple of years ago. The President made a public proclamation there would be no 'Orange Revolution'
as happened in the Ukraine...
The opposition is, in fact, run by intellectuals. It has always had a purely democratic agenda, with no hint of extremist elements at any time. That
is what I mean by 'blatant'.
Alexander Litvinenko accused the Russian government of committing false-enemy type 'terrorist' atrocities in order to increase patriotism and
shore-up its power base, and we all know what happened to him:

During his time in London Litvinenko authored two books, "Blowing up Russia: Terror from within" and "Lubyanka Criminal Group," where he
accused Russian secret services of staging Russian apartment bombings and other terrorism acts to bring Vladimir Putin to power.
Source:
en.wikipedia.org...
The evidence he presented was actually devastating:
1) Suspicious characters placing objects under a housing tower block
2) Concerned citizen phones police
3) Police make arrests - culprits caught red-handed planting bombs
4) Culprits turn out to be government agents
5) Government goes silent for several weeks before giving an explanation:
6) "This was a secret operation to create a terrorist scenario and plan the reaction".
7) Problem: real explosives were being planted & no authorities had been notified...
Now enter Belarus, 4th July 2008.
Even the date hints at a calculated, callous political message: those pushing for independence are terrorists. The 3rd July Independence Day
celebrations in Belarus, had just finished:

...it happened on the very anniversary of the capital's liberation from Nazi occupation, near the impressive monument to WWII heroes. It could
have hardly been more symbolic.
Source:
news.bbc.co.uk...
After reading the above related article another possible interpretation emerges: forces within the existing power structures are flexing their
muscles. Nevertheless that too would mean the perpetrators are cold-blooded fear-mongers willing to go to any means to justify extreme measures and
ongoing dictatorship, in full knowledge all the blame would be directed at the visible opposition.
BBC comment notwithstanding, the former interpretation seems more likely - President Lukashanko has been trying to reunite with Russia for many years,
and therefore has a similar agenda to President Putin. The physical borders between Russia and Belarus were removed long ago. (Lukashenko has even
been pushing for monetary union over recent years.) It is widely believed his ultimate aim is to become president of a reunited Russia/Belarus.
Stamping out 'terrorism' would constitute a welcome addition to his ticket...
news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)
[edit to comment on interpretation of BBC editor of 2nd article]
[edit on 5/7/08 by pause4thought]