Cops clash with Lien supporters
Police use water cannon on marchers who throw bottles and chairs in worst violence since polls
TAIPEI
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Protesters getting drenched while trying to storm a barricade manned by police outside the presidential palace in Taipei yesterday. -- REUTERS |
THOUSANDS of opposition supporters clashed with riot police yesterday outside Taiwan's presidential palace in the worst violence since last month's hotly disputed presidential polls.
The clash happened after more than 100,000 protesters marched in Taipei to demand an independent inquiry into a mysterious election-eve shooting which injured President Chen Shui-bian slightly.
Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) leader Lien Chan has alleged that the shooting was staged to win sympathy votes.
After the three-hour peaceful rally ended, about 2,000 demonstrators lingered around and began taunting police on the other side of the barricade.
Shouting 'Chen Shui-bian step down!', they threw bottles, tables and chairs and some threatened to storm the palace.
When the mob threw scaffolding on the barricade, police used a water cannon on them. But the crowd refused to go away and some even threw Molotov cocktails. Some people were injured and at least eight were arrested.
About 8,000 riot troops, boosted by police from other parts of the island, were deployed in Taipei to guard yesterday's demonstration.
To calm down the emotional crowd, KMT official Lin Fong-cheng urged them to stop fighting the police. But he said those who started the violence were ruling party members who had infiltrated the crowd.
This drew an angry reaction from Mr Lee Ying-yuan of Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive Party, who threatened to sue the KMT unless Mr Lin withdraws his comments by tomorrow.
Shortly after 10pm, riot police formed a wall and began using their shields to push the protesters out of the area, resulting in more clashes.
By press time, police were still trying to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, US-based forensic expert Henry Lee said yesterday he had discovered 20 to 30 glass fragments inside the jeep Mr Chen was riding in when the shooting took place, proving that one bullet was fired from the right side of the vehicle.
Also yesterday, the government accepted the resignation of Foreign Minister Eugene Chien who offered to quit over the ministry's mishandling of a congratulatory statement from a US envoy on Mr Chen's re-election. -- AP, Reuters
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