Police chief resigns in Buenos Aires

Thousands marched in anger over the police crackdown

The head of the provincial police force in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, has resigned over the deaths of two anti-government demonstrators on Wednesday.

Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde has said the demonstrators were killed by police during what he described as "an atrocious hunt".

The pictures shocked Argentina

The president said that it seemed that those given the task of maintaining public order had, in fact, been responsible for the deaths.

Two policemen have been arrested and more than 100 suspended in connection with the deaths which happened after a demonstration blocked main road bridges into the capital.

Democracy will not allow these crimes to be covered up by impunity

President Duhalde

The head of police in Buenos Aires province, Ricardo Degastaldi, resigned along with his deputy, Edgardo Beltracci.

Thousands of people took to the streets after Wednesday's deaths, calling on President Duhalde to resign.

The BBC's Peter Greste in Buenos Aires says the new protest on Thursday by about 10,000 people - from manual workers to suited professionals to grandmothers in headscarves - was generally peaceful.

But he adds that the government is keen to prevent Wednesday's incident from becoming a touchstone for more angry protests.

The governor of Buenos Aires State ordered the arrests of the policemen after a newspaper published photographs which appeared to show the police shooting one of the demonstrators in cold blood.

'Cold-blooded murder'

In a shocking sequence of eight photographs published in Clarin newspaper police appear to follow a group of demonstrators into a train station where they are helping a colleague already shot.

Well-organised protesters brought the capital to a standstill on Thursday

Then, apparently without provocation, the police open fire, fatally wounding one of the group.

Our correspondent says that the photographs are likely to inflame the public further.

Many people blame the authorities for what they say is cold-blooded murder, and the images would seem to confirm those suspicions.

Anger at austerity

Demonstrators are also angry about the austerity measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that they blame for Argentina's continuing economic misery.

The crowds on Thursday demanded food handouts and social programmes for Argentina's growing army of unemployed, and also campaigned for the removal of President Duhalde's government.

Wednesday's violence was the worst since December, when 27 people were killed in looting and street battles which forced the then President Fernando de la Rua to resign.

Protests have been a regular occurrence since late last year, when millions of people were plunged into poverty after the government posted the biggest sovereign debt default in history.

The peso was devalued by more than two thirds and millions of bank accounts were frozen.

The Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna is in Washington to plead with the IMF to grant a $9.5bn loan to ease the country's economic crisis.