ARMENIAN POLICE DISPERSE RALLY IN DOWNTOWN YEREVAN
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 1, 2008 Saturday 11:51 AM MSK
Russia
Armenian police dispersed an unsanctioned rally on Theater Square in
Yerevan early on Saturday, Rossiya television channel has reported.
Police started the operation at 6:00 a.m. local time Saturday,
and they acted "so swiftly and forcefully that the square was fully
cleared of the protesters in 10 to 15 minutes," the TV channel said.
"According to various sources, there had been from 1,500 to 5,000
demonstrators on the square when the police action started.
Fortunately, the operation involved no fatalities or serious injuries,"
it said.
It was reported earlier that supporters of presidential candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who lost the presidential elections to Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan, had pitched a camp in downtown Yerevan several days
ago to demand that the official results of the elections be declared
invalid.