ANALYSIS-Belarus leader dumps unwanted allies after bomb

By Andrei Makhovsky MINSK, July 24 (Reuters) - Veteran President Alexander Lukashenko has seized on a bomb explosion that hurt more than 50 people at a concert he attended to improve conditions for an opening to the West. Analysts said Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing basic rights, had weeded out former allies who had become obstacles to a rapprochement to improve his image before a parliamentary election seen in Western capitals as a test of his willingness to introduce democratic change. Initial suggestions that the July 4 explosion was a ploy to crack down on the opposition proved unfounded when a dozen activists rounded up by police were quickly released. Instead, within days of the bomb, Lukashenko sacked Security Council chief Viktor Sheiman, a highly influential ally from when the president came to power in... [read full story]