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Argentine ex-president cleared over 2001 deaths


    BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine court dropped charges on Tuesday against former President Fernando de la Rua over the killing of five protesters in demonstrations that forced him from office in late 2001.

    De la Rua fled the country's pink presidential palace byhelicopter after demonstrators and police clashed in thestreets of Buenos Aires at the height of a 2001-2002 economicand political crisis.

    A judge accused him last year of "not using the tools"available to him as president to prevent the bloodshed. But afederal court reversed an indictment against him and said hewould no longer be investigated.

    Thousands of people flooded the streets to demand De laRua's resignation after the government froze bank accounts tostem a run on deposits, angering middle-class Argentines whofeared losing their savings.

    The country was suffering a sharp recession as a one-to-onecurrency peg to the dollar became unsustainable, and joblessand poverty rates began to soar.

    Argentina defaulted on some $100 billion in sovereign debtafter De la Rua left office and devalued its currency, in thecountry's biggest-ever economic meltdown.

    (Reporting by Cesar Illiano; Writing by Hilary Burke)