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Troops Flood Armenian Capital After Bloody Clashes

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  • Troops Flood Armenian Capital After Bloody Clashes

    TROOPS FLOOD ARMENIAN CAPITAL AFTER BLOODY CLASHES

    Sydney Morning Herald
    March 3 2008
    Australia

    Hundreds of troops flooded Armenia's capital today to enforce a state
    of emergency after clashes between opposition activists protesting
    against election results and government forces left eight people dead
    and more than 100 injured.

    The bloodshed was the worst political crisis to hit the strategically
    located, volatile former Soviet nation in nearly a decade. An envoy
    of Europe's leading security body rushed to Armenia to mediate the
    conflict. The United States urged both sides to exercise restraint.

    President Robert Kocharian declared the 20 day state of emergency
    last night following a day of clashes between government forces and
    demonstrators protesting against alleged fraud in the February 19
    presidential election.

    Police used tear gas and fired in the air to disperse thousands of
    opposition demonstrators yesterday afternoon, after breaking up an
    opposition tent camp earlier in the day.

    Seven civilians and one officer were killed in the clashes, and at
    least 131 other protesters and troops were wounded, officials said
    today. The authorities accused the opposition of firing at police
    and Health Ministry spokeswoman Russian Gevorkian said 16 troops
    had bullet wounds, the Interfax news agency reported. The opposition
    vehemently denied using weapons.

    The demonstrators supported opposition presidential candidate Levon
    Ter-Petrosian, who was being prevented from leaving his residence.

    Ter-Petrosian called on his supporters to go home and refrain from
    further protests while the emergency order is in place, but vowed to
    continue efforts to force a new election once it is lifted.

    "We shall not retreat. Acting within the law, within the framework of
    the constitution, we shall struggle to the end, until the removal of
    this hateful and criminal regime, this bandit and kleptocratic regime,"
    Ter-Petrosian told reporters in his house in central Yerevan.

    Hundreds of helmeted servicemen, wearing bulletproof vests and
    wielding Kalashnikov assault rifles, patrolled the centre of a tense
    Yerevan. Police closed several major streets where the violence
    occurred. Troops were warning residents by loudspeaker not to gather
    in groups.

    Some streets were littered with the hulks of burned cars, many shop
    windows had been broken and kiosks looted.

    Ter-Petrosian finished a distant second to Prime Minister Serge
    Sarkisian in the official results from the election. He appealed to
    the Constitutional Court on Friday to overturn the results.

    The bloodshed raised concerns about stability in this country,
    which borders Iran and lies on a transit route from the energy-rich
    Caspian Sea region to Western consumers. Europe's leading security
    organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
    was sending an envoy to Armenia to mediate the crisis.

    Western observers issued an overall positive assessment of the
    election, but noted serious flaws, especially during the vote count.

    The opposition says Sarkisian stole the election by resorting to
    vote-buying, ballot stuffing and pressuring media to skew coverage
    in his favour. Several opposition members said they were beaten on
    election day to prevent them from monitoring the vote. The government
    denies any wrongdoing.
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