Eyewitness: Anger in Ulan Bator

Zolzaya Ulzii, who lives close to the scene, described the demonstrations and their aftermath.

" It started off with a small protest organised by people who were against the election results.

Several thousand people went to the building of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party - the former Communist Party - and waited outside the prime minister's building, asking him to agree that the elections were rigged.

I was at work when the worst of the violence began. But I live very close to the scene of the protest.

When I went home I went to see what was going on. The party building was on fire and there were big fights going on between the police and the people.

People were throwing stones at the police and the police had rubber sticks and were hitting the people with them. I saw them firing at people with what looked like very strange guns - I cannot say for sure if they were really guns, that is just what they looked like. And people got injured.

I was standing very close to a hotel with a lot of other people watching what was going on.

I was really worried. It was really serious. Other parts of the city seemed to be OK - the violence was only here.

The people were shouting and shouting. It was quite scary. It went too far. The violence was too much. They were shouting in Mongolian: "Get away Communist Party!"

When I went back home I heard real gunshots twice - after midnight.

'State of emergency'

My brother had been to the protest and he was there when the police came. He said they tried to stop the people but they couldn't so in the end they started using gas and rubber bullets. But the protests continued.

"People were throwing stones at the police and the police had rubber sticks and were hitting the people"

Right now it's a state of emergency. On the streets things are OK. The Communist Party building, which was white, is now burnt black as are other buildings close by.

There are 10 or 12 military tanks with what look like big cannons outside. There are no protesters now although there are rumours that they will do it again.

I went to vote for the Mongolian Democratic party and everybody I know did the same so it feels quite strange that the Communists won the election. So I guess most people are unhappy with it.

The government has closed down some television and radio stations. I feel they are trying to close our eyes. "

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Mongolian government [in Mongolian]
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