OPPOSITION HOLDS BIG RALLY IN ARMENIA, SEEKING RERUN OF PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Associated Press
February 24th, 2008

YEREVAN, Armenia – Thousands of opposition supporters protested
in Armenia’s capital Sunday, demanding a rerun of the disputed
presidential vote and denouncing the detention of several allies in
their confrontation with the government.

More than 20,000 people protested for a fifth day in a central
square where the opposition has maintained a round-the-clock vigil,
and hundreds broke away to march through the streets in the early
evening. A tough warning from the outgoing president raised concerns
that police could seek to disperse the demonstrators.

Supporters of opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian claim Tuesday’s
election was rigged and are demanding a new vote. The government
says Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian won the presidency fairly and
has urged the protesters to disperse.

The standoff has raised concerns about potential violence in a poor
and volatile country that is strategically located at the junction of
the energy-rich Caspian Sea region and southern Europe, with Russia
and Iran nearby.

Announcing final election results Sunday that were in line with a
preliminary count, Central Election Commission chief Garegin Azarian
said Sarkisian, Kocharian’s favoured successor, received nearly 53
per cent of the vote in the country of 3.2 million – enough to win
outright and avoid a run-off.

He said Ter-Petrosian won 21.5 per cent. The opposition claims
that Ter-Petrosian won but that the vote was marred by vote-buying,
ballot-stuffing and violence.

A few officials have joined the opposition since the vote.

One of them, former deputy prosecutor General Gagik Dzhangirian, was
detained along with his brother and another man late Saturday, police
spokesman Sayat Shirinian said. An exchange of gunfire erupted when
officers blocked a highway to search the car they were travelling in,
Shirinian said.

Dzhangirian’s brother and two police officers were injured, police
said.

Kocharian on Saturday dismissed several Armenian diplomats who
expressed support for the opposition, including the ambassadors to
Italy and Kyrgyzstan and a deputy foreign minister.