ARMENIAN OPPOSITION READIES FOR RALLY AFTER QUIET NIGHT

Agence France Presse
Feb 28 2008

YEREVAN (AFP) – Some 2,000 opposition activists stayed throughout the
night in the Armenian capital Yerevan in a round-the-clock tent camp,
preparing for more mass rallies Thursday.

Protesters took turns warming themselves at bonfires and sleeping
in some 50 tents set on Yerevan’s central Freedom Square during the
night which passed without incident.

Protesters are calling for Armenian authorities to annul the result
of the February 19 election, which handed victory to Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian over his opposition challenger Levon Ter-Petrosian.

Ter-Petrosian, a former president of this mountainous former Soviet
republic, ran on an anti-corruption platform and alleges massive
vote fraud.

The Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) have called for restraint. OSCE observers said
earlier that the election "mostly" met international standards.