Mongolia's capital sweeps up after postelection riots leave buildings in ruin

The Associated Press ,  Ulan Bator   |  Thu, 07/03/2008 5:49 PM  |  World

Smoke hung in the air Thursday as people swept up in Mongolia's capital on the second day of a
state of emergency called after at least five people died in rioting sparked by allegations of election fraud.

A four-day emergency was declared after thousands of rock-throwing protesters clashed with police late Tuesday as they mobbed the headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, or MPRP, and set it on fire.

The demonstrators also attacked the General Election Commission, demanding that officials resign.

Police and troops imposed a 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew, which appeared to have been mostly observed overnight. Traffic Thursday was near normal in a steady drizzle of rain.

The smell of burned wood and plastic was still heavy in the air. Workers were sweeping out a cultural center near the MPRP headquarters that was also attacked.

Every office in the building, which housed arts and music groups, had been broken into and looted, with glass and other debris on the floors.

"They stole everything, all the instruments, even the performers' costumes. The only thing left is the piano," said Delgensaikhan Tuvshinsaikhan, the leader of a traditional folk music group that was housed in the building.

As he spoke, several of his musicians swept up glass and broken vases.

President Nambaryn Enkhbayar issued a nine-point decree allowing police to use force in dealing with demonstrators, who reportedly also looted an art gallery and government buildings.

Mongolia's national news agency Montsame said five people died in Tuesday's violence, in which officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to beat back rioters wielding bricks and iron rods. The report did not say how they died.

There were 220 people injured in the unrest, including a Japanese reporter, Montsame reported.

A Foreign Ministry official who would not give her name because she was not authorized to speak to the media said about 1,000 people had been detained.

According to preliminary results of the Sunday election that focused on how to share the country's mineral wealth, the MPRP - the former Communists who governed the country when it was a Soviet satellite - won 46 seats in the 76-seat parliament.

Official results are to be announced by July 10.

The MPRP has long been dogged by allegations of corruption and official misconduct and is unpopular in the capital.

Election fraud allegations were 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 won the poll.

Mongolia is struggling to modernize its nomadic, agriculture-based economy. The government says per capita income is US$1,500 a year in the country of about 3 million people spread across an area about three times the size of Spain.

The two main political parties focused their campaigns on how to tap recently discovered mineral deposits - including copper, gold and coal - but disagreed over whether the government or private sector should hold a majority stake.(**)

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