Clashes as Chile marks 1973 coup

11 September: A violent date in Chile's past and present

Violent clashes have cut short a major ceremony in Chile to remember those who died in the 1973 military coup.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon and arrested dozens of people at the main cemetery in the capital, Santiago, after demonstrators threw rocks.

Chile's socialist president, Salvador Allende, was among those who died in the military takeover on 11 September.

The coup signalled the start of the 17-year military government of General Augusto Pinochet.

Several thousand people were taking part in the annual march from the city centre to the cemetery when a pitched battle between some protesters and police officers erupted.

Thugs

Demonstrators, many of them wearing masks, threw molotov cocktails and rocks, while the police responded with water cannon and tear gas.

At least two dozen people were arrested and several policemen were injured.

Pinochet waves to the crowd in the immediate aftermath of his coup

The violence forced an early end to the traditional ceremony organised by the National Assembly for Human Rights.

Organisers condemned the violence and said the event had been hijacked by thugs. Police appeared to agree, saying the vast majority of those who took part in the traditional parade in the city centre to the cemetery were peaceful and a small number of people had started the trouble.

General Pinochet may have left office fourteen years ago, but the tradition of violence in Chile on 11 September lives on, says the BBC's Clinton Porteous in Santiago.

The violence began 31 years ago when the general's planes bombed the presidential palace and it continues on the anniversary of the event.