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8 Dead in Clashes in Armenia

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  • 8 Dead in Clashes in Armenia

    8 Dead in Clashes in Armenia
    AP
    Sunday March 2 2008
    By AVET DEMOURIAN

    Associated Press Writer

    YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - Troops and armored vehicles patrolled the main
    streets of Armenia's capital Sunday following violent protests that
    left eight dead and more than 100 injured and prompted the president
    to declare a state of emergency.

    President Robert Kocharian declared the sweeping, 20-day state of
    emergency Saturday night following a day of clashes between police
    and demonstrators protesting alleged fraud in the Feb. 19 presidential
    election.

    The violence - which culminated in police firing bullets into the
    air and tear gas to disperse some 15,000 opposition demonstrators -
    appeared to be Armenia's worst since the Soviet era. The bloodshed
    raised concerns about stability in the country bordering Iran and lying
    on a transit route from the energy-rich Caspian Sea region to the West.

    Eight people were killed in the clashes Saturday between protesters
    and police, Health Minister Arutiun Kushkian said. He said 131 people
    were injured, including 57 police and army troops.

    A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the deaths
    occurred during a shootout between protesters and police - and that
    seven of the dead were civilians. The official did not give his name
    because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

    Authorities claimed the protesters were armed and shot at police. The
    opposition vehemently denies the claim.

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

    Some streets were littered with hulks of burned cars. Many shop
    windows had been broken, kiosks looted and discarded plastic bottles
    and other garbage lay strewn on the street.

    Overnight, opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian - the presidential
    candidate backed by the demonstrators - recorded an appeal urging
    protesters to go home.

    "Our forces are unequal, we are surrounded by troops and our president
    suggests we disperse," he said in the recording. Aides drove through
    the center of Yerevan playing the recording from loudspeakers.

    Thousands - sometimes tens of thousands - of protesters have rallied
    daily since the results from the Feb. 19 election showed Ter-Petrosian
    finishing a distant second to Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian, a close
    colleague of Kocharian.

    The opposition accused Sarkisian of resorting to vote-buying, ballot
    stuffing and pressuring media to skew coverage in his favor. Several
    opposition members said they were beaten on election day to prevent
    them from monitoring the vote.

    On Friday, Ter-Petrosian appealed to the Constitutional Court to
    overturn the results.

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

    The government denied any wrongdoing.

    The first clashes occurred early Saturday when police broke up an
    opposition tent camp in a central square, saying the demonstrators
    had weapons and were plotting a violent coup.

    Opposition spokesman Arman Musinian, however, claimed that the
    grenades and pistols - later shown on Armenia's state television
    stacked carefully in the bushes surrounding the protest square -
    had been planted.

    Thousands of protesters regrouped later Saturday. Police broke up that
    gathering with tear gas and by firing bullets into the air. Groups
    of angry demonstrators then marched around town, looting shops and
    setting cars ablaze.

    At least 55 people were detained during the day's unrest, said Sona
    Truzian, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor-general's office. Fifteen
    people were formally arrested.

    Armenia's parliament approved the state of emergency decree overnight
    in an extraordinary session. It imposes severe restrictions, including
    a ban on all mass gatherings and an order requiring news reports on
    domestic political matters to include only official information.

    "What's going on now is not a political process. It has gone over
    the edge," Kocharian said at a late-night news conference. "I appeal
    to the people of Armenia to show restraint and understanding."

    Europe's leading security organization, the Organization for Security
    and Co-operation in Europe, was sending an envoy to Armenia to mediate
    the crisis.

    The Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, postponed
    a planned trip Sunday to meet with religious leaders.

    ---

    Associated Press writers Maria Danilova in Moscow and Matti Huuhtanen
    in Helsinki, Finland, contributed to this report.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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