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M. Continuo

Armenian police halt election protests


    YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian police with riot shields on Saturday surrounded a square in the capital Yerevan and removed opposition supporters who had been holding daily protests, an opposition spokesman said on Saturday.

    Authorities had said earlier their patience was running outwith the protests over a February 19 presidential election thatthe opposition said was rigged.

    A spokesman for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the opposition leaderwho led the protests, said police had moved in to removedemonstrators from Freedom Square.

    "They came, they beat people up and they removed everyone,"Arman Musinyan told Reuters.

    (Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchyan; writing by Christian Lowe)