BUDAPEST, Hungary - Police fired tear gas early Thursday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators demanding the prime minister's resignation over his admission on a leaked tape that he lied about the dismal state of the economy.
The protesters were part of a much larger group that had gathered Wednesday evening in a fourth straight day of demonstrations against Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's government.
Police were were out in force and officials said the government could consider a curfew in the Hungarian capital.
Even as the main protest Wednesday grew to 15,000, Gyurcsany stood his ground and insisted that his government intended to press ahead with economic reforms.
"The policy of raw emotions and radicalism are in no way a viable path," he said, adding: "The government doesn't want to change its policy."
Later, the numbers of protesters dwindled to the hundreds and the chaos gripping the capital appeared to be ebbing.
While the crowd at Parliament has numbered in the thousands over the past days, the trouble has come from groups breaking away to seek mischief.
A wooden coffin placed on a stand in the square bore the slogan: "We are burying the Gyurcsany government. For you, there is no resurrection."
Police detained a youth after he tried to set the coffin alight. Later, they fired tear gas at hundreds of youthful demonstrators confronting them at a main downtown intersection, and chased others down side streets. Several youths were injured, one in the neck by a tear gas canister, but no other incidents were reported by early morning.
The calls for the resignation of Gyurcsany came after leaks of his taped comments that he had "lied morning, evening and night" about the economy. The tape was made at a closed-door meeting in late May, weeks after Gyurcsany's government became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election.
Confronted with initial excerpts of the 25-minute recording which Hungarian state radio put up on its Web site Sunday afternoon, Gyurcsany not only acknowledged their authenticity but seemed relieved they had been made public - leading to speculation that the leak came from sources close to him.
Gyurcsany's refusal to step down after leaked comments that he had lied sparked violence unrivaled since the anti-Soviet revolution 50 years ago. For two days running police battled thousands of radicals trying to storm strategic or symbolic buildings.
Hungarian media on Thursday reported smaller demonstrations from half a dozen other cities and towns.
Still, with the crowd at Kossuth Square down to only a few hundred by early Thursday, it appeared to be the most peaceful night since the first violence erupted Tuesday before daybreak.
A total of 140 officers were injured over two days, including 38 on Wednesday, and 137 people were been detained, said Arpad Szabadfi, deputy chief of national police. Dozens of demonstrators also were hurt, officials said.
The violence shook a country that for much of the last two decades had been held up as a model of progress following the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.
The public was stunned by the blunt admissions of government ineptitude during its first term and the cynicism contained in a 25-minute tape widely aired and published by news media.
"We did nothing for four years. Nothing," Gyurcsany says on the tape, made during a private talk with Socialist parliament members peppered with crude expressions. "We screwed up. Not a little, a lot.
"No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have," he says."... Plainly, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years."
The outpouring of rage was additionally fueled by austerity measures implemented by Gyurcsany's Socialist-led coalition, seeking to rein in a government budget deficit expected to surpass 10 percent of Hungary's gross domestic product this year - the largest in the European Union.
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Associated Press writers Karel Janicek and Pablo Gorondi contributed to this report from Budapest.
Police Disperse Protesters in Hungary
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Police fired tear gas early Thursday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators demanding the prime minister's resignation over his admission on a leaked tape that he lied about the dismal state of the economy.
The protesters were part of a much larger group that had gathered Wednesday evening in a fourth straight day of demonstrations against Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's government.
Police were were out in force and officials said the government could consider a curfew in the Hungarian capital.
Even as the main protest Wednesday grew to 15,000, Gyurcsany stood his ground and insisted that his government intended to press ahead with economic reforms.
"The policy of raw emotions and radicalism are in no way a viable path," he said, adding: "The government doesn't want to change its policy."
Later, the numbers of protesters dwindled to the hundreds and the chaos gripping the capital appeared to be ebbing.
While the crowd at Parliament has numbered in the thousands over the past days, the trouble has come from groups breaking away to seek mischief.
A wooden coffin placed on a stand in the square bore the slogan: "We are burying the Gyurcsany government. For you, there is no resurrection."
Police detained a youth after he tried to set the coffin alight. Later, they fired tear gas at hundreds of youthful demonstrators confronting them at a main downtown intersection, and chased others down side streets. Several youths were injured, one in the neck by a tear gas canister, but no other incidents were reported by early morning.
The calls for the resignation of Gyurcsany came after leaks of his taped comments that he had "lied morning, evening and night" about the economy. The tape was made at a closed-door meeting in late May, weeks after Gyurcsany's government became the first in post-communist Hungary to win re-election.
Confronted with initial excerpts of the 25-minute recording which Hungarian state radio put up on its Web site Sunday afternoon, Gyurcsany not only acknowledged their authenticity but seemed relieved they had been made public - leading to speculation that the leak came from sources close to him.
Gyurcsany's refusal to step down after leaked comments that he had lied sparked violence unrivaled since the anti-Soviet revolution 50 years ago. For two days running police battled thousands of radicals trying to storm strategic or symbolic buildings.
Hungarian media on Thursday reported smaller demonstrations from half a dozen other cities and towns.
Still, with the crowd at Kossuth Square down to only a few hundred by early Thursday, it appeared to be the most peaceful night since the first violence erupted Tuesday before daybreak.
A total of 140 officers were injured over two days, including 38 on Wednesday, and 137 people were been detained, said Arpad Szabadfi, deputy chief of national police. Dozens of demonstrators also were hurt, officials said.
The violence shook a country that for much of the last two decades had been held up as a model of progress following the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.
The public was stunned by the blunt admissions of government ineptitude during its first term and the cynicism contained in a 25-minute tape widely aired and published by news media.
"We did nothing for four years. Nothing," Gyurcsany says on the tape, made during a private talk with Socialist parliament members peppered with crude expressions. "We screwed up. Not a little, a lot.
"No European country has done something as boneheaded as we have," he says."... Plainly, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years."
The outpouring of rage was additionally fueled by austerity measures implemented by Gyurcsany's Socialist-led coalition, seeking to rein in a government budget deficit expected to surpass 10 percent of Hungary's gross domestic product this year - the largest in the European Union.
---
Associated Press writers Karel Janicek and Pablo Gorondi contributed to this report from Budapest.
