DICTATOR PLOTTED TO KILL ENEMIES, TAPES ALLEGE

M OS C OW Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator, plotted to assassinate opponents who had fled to the EU, a report alleges.

A tape published on the EUobserver website purports to be the former head of Belarus's spy agency telling officers that Lukashenko is “waiting for operations” to target enemies in Germany.

Vadim Zaitsev, a former KGB head, is allegedly heard discussing using explosives and poisons on a former prison director, army colonel and anticorruption chief, in what the website said were leaked recordings from 2012.

Lukashenko allegedly deposited 1.2 million pounds in a “dedicated account” for such operations and wanted “results,” according to the voice on the tapes.

None of the murders took place but a Belarusian-born journalist also referred to in the recording later died in a car-bomb attack in Ukraine.

EUobserver said it was given the tapes by Igor Makar, a Belarusian opposition activist and ex-special forces officer.