EIGHT DEAD IN CLASHES IN ARMENIA
EuroNews
March 2 2008
France
The streets of the Armenian capital were virtually deserted today after
eight people died in overnight clashes between opposition supporters
and riot police. Thousands of people have been protesting against a
disputed presidential election. Outgoing president Robert Kocharyan
accused demonstrators of planning a coup d’etat and imposed a 20-day
state of emergency yesterday.
The former Soviet Republic has seen daily protests since the February
19 poll, an election deemed broadly fair by Western observers.
Violence flared overnight after a hardcore of demonstrators refused
to heed a message from the opposition leader to go home.
Levon Ter-Petrosyan says he will negotiate with the government –
a U-turn as previously he had said talks were out of the question
until the election result was annulled.