Agence France Presse
March 13, 2008 Thursday 2:16 PM GMT

US calls for political dialogue in Armenia

WASHINGTON

The White House expressed concern Thursday about Armenia’s crackdown,
including arrests of opposition figures, and called for political
dialogue to end the crisis there.

"We continue to follow with concern the current situation in
Armenia," spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.

"The government of Armenia needs to uphold the rule of law, lift the
state of emergency and restore press freedoms. We urge a political
dialogue between the government and opposition to resolve the
situation quickly," he said.

The Armenian capital Yerevan is under a state of emergency until
March 20 following clashes between riot police and anti-government
protesters on March 1 that left seven civilians and one police
officer dead. Dozens more were injured, many from gunshot wounds.

"The United States has condemned the violence of March 1 and 2 that
resulted in a loss of life and subsequent government crackdown, that
included arrests of members of the opposition, curtailed the freedom
of press as well as public assembly," said Fratto.

The unrest was sparked by police efforts to disperse thousands of
protesters who had rallied for 11 days against the results of a
February 19 presidential election won by Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian, outgoing President Robert Kocharian’s handpicked
successor.

The opposition claims the election was rigged to secure victory for
Sarkisian over Ter-Petrosian, who came a distant second. Foreign
observers, however, said the vote had by and large met international
standards.