rome • Italian police said yesterday they had closed down a Belarus-based child pornography website and placed 83 people under investigation.

Police conducted 83 searches in 37 Italian provinces on Friday, they said in a statement. Two of those placed under investigation have been formally arrested.

Police also seized about 100 computers, hard disks and about 600 cassettes.

The ages of the suspects, all men, range from 26 to 59. According to the ANSA news agency they include "manual workers, students, white collar staff and even representatives of the Catholic and Muslim faiths."

Access to the site, now closed down, cost $90 (71 euros), ANSA said. The operators of the site were based in the Belarus capital of Minsk and have been identified, police said in the statement. The server was based in the United States, according to police, who began their investigation last year.

The site earned its operators at least $4m and that amount has been seized in Belarus.