Eight killed in Armenian protests

Burnt cars are seen in central Yerevan March 2, 2008. Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili

Eight people were killed and 33 police injured in Armenia's capital during overnight protests, which ended after the government declared a state of emergency and mobilized the army.

The state of emergency, effective until March 20, followed the worst unrest in a decade, sparked by opposition protests against a February 19th presidential election they said was rigged.

Police fought pitched battles with opposition supporters who have held daily protests since Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan was elected president.

The state of emergency bans protests and imposes censorship. Outgoing President Robert Kocharyan said he introduced the restrictions "to prevent a threat to constitutional order".

He accused demonstrators of firing weapons and grenades and planning a coup d'etat. The opposition rejected this, saying police had attacked a peaceful protest.

A police statement said the deaths were under investigation, adding: "We don't know if they were policemen or protesters."

About 2,000 protesters stayed on in a square in the centre of Yerevan armed with metal rods and Molotov cocktails as army trucks headed towards the capital of the former Soviet republic, lying in a Caucasus mountains region emerging as a key transit route for Caspian Sea oil and gas supplies.

But the crowd melted away after a message was read out from Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the protest leader and defeated challenger in the election, urging his supporters to go home.