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Armenian capital under heavy guard after clashes

Hundreds of troops flooded Armenia's capital to enforce a state of emergency after clashes between opposition activists protesting election results and government forces left eight people dead and more than 100 injured.

The bloodshed was the worst political crisis to hit this strategically located, volatile former Soviet nation in nearly a decade. An envoy of Europe's leading security body rushed to Armenia to mediate the conflict. The US urged both sides to exercise restraint.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared a 20-day state of emergency on Saturday night following a day of clashes between government forces and demonstrators protesting alleged fraud in the Feb. 19 presidential election.

Police used tear gas and fired in the air to disperse thousands of protesters n Saturday afternoon, after breaking up an opposition tent camp earlier in the day.

Seven civilians and one officer were killed in the clashes and at least 131 other protesters and troops were wounded, officials said on Sunday. The authorities accused the opposition of firing at police, and Health Ministry spokeswoman Russian Gevorkian said 16 troops had suffered bullet wounds, the Interfax news agency reported. The opposition vehemently denied using weapons.

The demonstrators supported opposition presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, who was being prevented from leaving his residence. Ter-Petrosian called on his supporters to go home and refrain from further protests while the emergency order is in place, but vowed to continue efforts to force a new election once it is lifted.

"We shall not retreat. Acting with-in the law, within the framework of the Constitution, we shall struggle to the end, until the removal of this hateful and criminal regime, this bandit and kleptocratic regime," Ter-Petrosian told reporters in his house in central Yerevan.

Hundreds of helmeted servicemen, wearing bulletproof vests and wielding assault rifles, patrolled the center of a tense Yerevan on Sunday. Police closed several major streets where the violence occurred. Troops warned residents by loudspeaker not to gather in groups.

Some streets were littered with hulks of burned cars, many shop windows had been broken and kiosks looted.

Ter-Petrosian finished a distant second to Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian in the official results from the election. He appealed to the Constitutional Court on Friday to overturn the results.

The challenger's legal status was uncertain on Sunday. Security police were preventing him from leaving his residence and he told reporters he was under house arrest, but there were no reports of official charges against him.
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