Budapest clashes as protest grows

Police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators   Police in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, have used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who threw bottles and stones and set cars alight. Thousands of demonstrators had gathered in the city, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. After several hours the police withdrew, allowing protesters to break into the state television headquarters. The protests follow Mr Gyurcsany's admission that his Socialist government told lies to win a general election. At least 50 demonstrators were injured in clashes with police - the first such unrest to take place in Hungary since the fall of communism and the establishment of democracy in the late 1980s. The main opposition party, the centre-right Fidesz, says it will boycott parliament on Tuesday. Looting The BBC's Nick Thorpe, in central Budapest, says the trouble at the state television station began when a small group of protesters who had spent the day outside parliament tried to hand in a petition. A clash with riot police ensued and the square rapidly filled with mainly young people, some waving Hungarian flags. "Nothing like this has happened since 1956," one young protester told Reuters news agency, referring to Hungary's failed uprising against Soviet rule in October 1956. The street is not a solution, but instead causes conflict and crisis Ferenc Gyurcsany Balazs Bende, a news editor who was forced to leave the building, said the crowd inside were looting everything. "They have taken our computers and all the technical devices they can," he said. Mr Gyurcsany has told the state news service that he has no plans to resign. "The street is not a solution, but instead causes conflict and crisis," he said early on Tuesday, adding: "Our job is to resolve the conflict and prevent a crisis." Smaller protests were also held in other cities around Hungary. Leaked tape Mr Gyurcsany's comments were heard in a tape of a meeting he had with his MPs a few weeks after April's election. It is not clear how the tape was leaked. In excerpts broadcast on state radio, Mr Gyurcsany says harsh economic reforms are needed. He thanks "divine providence, the abundance of cash in the world economy and hundreds of tricks" for keeping the economy above board. In a speech sprinkled with obscenities, Mr Gyurcsany says: "We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening." The prime minister has received the backing of Socialist MPs who on Monday voted unanimously to support him. However, Hungary's President, Laszlo Solyom, said Mr Gyurcsany had created a "moral crisis", and opposition parties have called for his resignation. Matyas Oersi, an MP with the Free Democrat Party - the junior coalition partner in the government - told the BBC: "It's a surprise - though understandable - that the people are angry at a political leader who, for the first time, is telling the truth: that the whole political class was lying." Local elections are scheduled in two weeks' time. The Socialists and their liberal coalition allies are trailing Fidesz in the polls.

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