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ARMENIAN MILITARY WARNS AGAINST MORE PROTESTS
Radio Liberty
March 2 2008
Czech Republic
The Armenian military urged Yerevan residents Sunday to comply with
a state of emergency imposed the previous night, warning that its
soldiers deployed in the city center would "strictly" counter any
attempts to stage more anti-governmenr rallies there.
"I would like to warn all citizens that any attempt to organize or
participate in events prohibited under the state of emergency would be
adequately and strictly countered by the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Armenia," Colonel-General Seyran Ohanian, chief of the army staff,
said in a televised address to the nation.
"I particular, I am asking you to refrain from attempting to assemble
in Yerevan even in small groups," said Ohanian. The army would step
in at the "slightest" sign of such attempts, he added.
Hundreds of troops backed by armored vehicles continued to patrol
key squares and street junctions in downtown Yerevan as of Sunday
evening. In particular, they cordoned off the sreet where riot police
fought pitched battles with angry supporters of former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian. Troop presence was also strong outside Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian's office and Liberty Square where thousands
of Ter-Petrosian supporters had been camped for 11 days.
President Robert Kocharian, meanwhile, visited the site of the
protest littered with stones and other traces of the late-night
violence. Television images showed him inspecting the charred hulk
of a police vehicle set ablaze by protesters outside the Yerevan
mayor's office.
Kocharian's office said the outgoing president also discussed the
post-election unrest in Armenia in a phone conversation with Javier
Solana, the European Union's foreign and security policy chief. It
said Solana expressed his "solidarity with the president and the
people of Armenia" and pledged to send a special envoy to Armenia.
Radio Liberty
March 2 2008
Czech Republic
The Armenian military urged Yerevan residents Sunday to comply with
a state of emergency imposed the previous night, warning that its
soldiers deployed in the city center would "strictly" counter any
attempts to stage more anti-governmenr rallies there.
"I would like to warn all citizens that any attempt to organize or
participate in events prohibited under the state of emergency would be
adequately and strictly countered by the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Armenia," Colonel-General Seyran Ohanian, chief of the army staff,
said in a televised address to the nation.
"I particular, I am asking you to refrain from attempting to assemble
in Yerevan even in small groups," said Ohanian. The army would step
in at the "slightest" sign of such attempts, he added.
Hundreds of troops backed by armored vehicles continued to patrol
key squares and street junctions in downtown Yerevan as of Sunday
evening. In particular, they cordoned off the sreet where riot police
fought pitched battles with angry supporters of former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian. Troop presence was also strong outside Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian's office and Liberty Square where thousands
of Ter-Petrosian supporters had been camped for 11 days.
President Robert Kocharian, meanwhile, visited the site of the
protest littered with stones and other traces of the late-night
violence. Television images showed him inspecting the charred hulk
of a police vehicle set ablaze by protesters outside the Yerevan
mayor's office.
Kocharian's office said the outgoing president also discussed the
post-election unrest in Armenia in a phone conversation with Javier
Solana, the European Union's foreign and security policy chief. It
said Solana expressed his "solidarity with the president and the
people of Armenia" and pledged to send a special envoy to Armenia.