(AP) —
Protesters in Ukraine's capital extinguished
burning barricades shielding them from the police
on Thursday, enforcing a tenuous peace as an
ultimatum issued by the opposition to the
president was set to expire with no sign of
compromise.
The fragile truce came after three main opposition
leaders urged protesters late Wednesday to refrain
from violence for 24 hours until their ultimatum to
President Viktor Yanukovych expired. They
demanded that he dismiss the government, call
early elections, and scrap harsh anti-protest
legislation that triggered violence at a
demonstration on Sunday.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko dove behind the
wall of black smoke engulfing much of downtown
Kiev on Thursday, pleading with both police and
protesters to uphold the peace until the ultimatum
expires Thursday evening.
At Klitschko's request, protesters extinguished the
burning tires that sent thick clouds of putrid smoke
toward police lines.
The largely peaceful protests against Yanukovych's
decision to shun the European Union and turn
toward Moscow in November descended into
violence on Sunday when demonstrators, angered
by last week's passage of repressive laws intended
to stifle protests, marched on official buildings. For
days protesters hurled fire bombs and stones at
police, who retaliated with stun grenades, tear gas
and rubber bullets.
On Wednesday, riot police beat and shot at
protesters, volunteer medics and journalists,
resulting in the deaths of two demonstrators — the
first casualties of the clashes. The opposition
contended as many as five people died.
Protesters throw rocks at police in central Kiev,
Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014.
The Interior Ministry said Thursday that 73 people
have been detained, 52 of them being investigated
for "mass riots" — a recently created criminal
charge that carries a prison sentence of up to eight
years. Allegations that activists have been
abducted and even tortured by police have spread.
The United States has responded by revoking the
visas of Ukrainian officials linked to violence and
threatened more sanctions.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany doesn't
think this is the time to consider sanctions against
the Ukrainian government, adding that the current
priority is "ensuring that channels of
communication are opened up and that the
Ukrainian government complies with its obligations
to secure fundamental democratic rights."
"We are extremely concerned — not just
concerned, appalled — about the way in which laws
have been pushed through that raise questions
over these fundamental freedoms," Merkel said.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said
that if the situation in Ukraine does not stabilize,
the EU "would assess possible consequences in its
relationship," according to spokesman Olivier
Bailly.
An Orthodox priest prays in front of police officers
as they block a street after clashes in central …
Barroso also said he had received assurances from
Yanukovych that he did not foresee the need for
imposing a state of emergency in Ukraine.
Russia in turn has accused the West of meddling in
Ukraine's affairs.
"We feel regret and indignation about the obvious
foreign interference in the developments in Kiev,"
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told the daily Komsomolskaya
Pravda in an interview published Thursday.
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
released a letter to Putin and President Barack
Obama prodding them to help broker talks to end
the crisis. "The situation is such that without help,
without assistance of authoritative representatives
of our two countries it may lead to a catastrophe,"
Gorbachev said in the letter, excerpts of which
were carried by the Interfax news agency.
Tensions remained high in Kiev, as protesters said
they would give peace a chance — but not for long.
"We're ready to wait so that new victims don't
appear," said 30-year-old Anatoly Lovchenko. "But
if the government doesn't listen to our demands,
we'll start up again."
The three main opposition leaders, who addressed
the crowds in the square after meeting the
president on Wednesday vowed to lead the
demonstrators in battles with police, if their
demands are not met. If Yanukovych doesn't
concede, "tomorrow we will go forward together.
And if it's a bullet in the forehead, then it's a bullet
in the forehead, but in an honest, fair and brave
way," declared one of them, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
___
Raf Casert in Brussels and Vladimir Isachenkov
contributed in Moscow contributed to this report
Sent From David Aniemeka
No comments:
Post a Comment