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