Mongolia declares emergency after riots

The Mongolian government yesterday declared a four-day state of emergency to quell riots over alleged election frauds that have killed at least five people.

Rifle-toting soldiers patrolled the streets and armored vehicles guarded intersections in Mongolia's capital as President Nambaryn Enkhbayar also issued a decree, imposing an overnight curfew and allowing police to use force in dealing with demonstrators.

Enkhbayar declared the emergency after rock-throwing protesters clashed with police on Tuesday as they attacked the headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, and set it on fire.

A small group of people gathered yesterday afternoon in Ulan Bator's main square next to the charred MPRP's headquarters but dispersed after police using megaphones threatened to use force.

Montsame, Mongolia's national news agency, said five people died in Tuesday's violence, in which officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to control rioters armed with bricks and iron rods.

Quoting Munkhorgil, the minister of justice and home affairs, Montsame said 220 people, including a Japanese reporter, were injured.

Though about 8,000 protesters had gathered at the MPRP headquarters, only about a quarter turned violent, it said.

A Mongolian Foreign Ministry official said about 1,000 people had been detained.

State television, the only one allowed to broadcast since the protests, showed two bleeding youths running into a hospital and said they died later.

The station showed burned and overturned cars and the charred remains of the four-story MPRP building. It said the attackers looted paintings from an art gallery and TV sets from government offices during the protests.

"Police will use necessary force to crack down on criminals who are looting private and government property," said Munkhorgil, who like many Mongolians uses only one name.

Early yesterday, armored vehicles blocked intersections near the MPRP building and groups of soldiers with rifles stood guard.

Others patrolled the streets but there were no immediate signs of tension. Shops were open and tourists wandered freely.

According to preliminary results, the MPRP - a party of former Communists - won 46 seats in the 76-seat parliament, called the Great Hural. Official results are to be announced July 10.

Fraud allegations were vague and originally centered on two districts in Ulan Bator that were awarded to the ruling party but were contested by two popular members of the Civic Movement party.

Protesters later called the entire election into question, with opposition Democrats saying their party had won the poll.