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Lukashenka congratulates Obama on election as US president

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Thursday congratulated Barack Obama on his election as president of the United States, the Belarusian leader’s press office said.

The 46-year-old Obama beat Republican candidate John McCain in Tuesday’s election, gaining at least 349 electoral votes and nearly 53 percent of the popular vote. He will be inaugurated on January 20, 2009.

Mr. Obama’s running mate, Joseph Biden, who will become vice president, co-sponsored the Belarus Democracy Act in the US Congress in 2004. //BelaPAN