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Hungarian protests turn violent | |
(39 minutes later) | |
There have been violent clashes between police and far-right protesters on the streets of Budapest. | |
The trouble began when nationalist leader Gyorgy Budahazy, who has been wanted by the police since disturbances began last September, was detained. | |
Police decided to clear the city centre using tear gas and water cannon as the crowd of demonstrators swelled. | |
Earlier thousands of supporters of the main opposition party held a peaceful mass rally to mark National Day. | |
There has been tight security, amid fears of a repetition of last October's clashes that marred the 50th anniversary of the anti-Soviet uprising. | |
The unrest followed Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's admission that he had lied during the electoral campaign about the state of Hungary's finances. | |
TV siege | |
The far-right rally began peacefully, with speeches from, among others, British historian David Irving, who was imprisoned until recently in Austria for Holocaust denial. | |
Some protesters threw eggs at the mayor | Some protesters threw eggs at the mayor |
The rioting began in the early evening after police identified and arrested Mr Budahazy, who is wanted in connection with the siege of a public TV station during last September's disturbances. | |
The crowd grew to around 1,000, and AFP news agency reported that some journalists were attacked with bottles and stones. | |
Police then drove down the city's main boulevard firing water cannon and tear gas canisters. | |
Flag row | |
At official ceremonies for the holiday, which marks Hungary's brief independence from Habsburg rule in 1848, Mr Gyurcsany was booed by a few hundred protesters, who shouted "Go, Gyurcsany, go!" | |
Later, Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky, an ally of Mr Gyurcsany, had to be protected with an umbrella against eggs thrown by protesters during his speech. | |
The main conservative opposition party, Fidesz, held its own rally on Thursday afternoon, attended by tens of thousands of supporters. | The main conservative opposition party, Fidesz, held its own rally on Thursday afternoon, attended by tens of thousands of supporters. |
Fidesz made it clear it had nothing to do with the far-right protesters. | |
Organisers asked participants at the Fidesz rally to carry only the official flag and not the traditional Hungarian Arpad flag, a modified version of which was used by the pro-Nazi government of 1944-1945. | Organisers asked participants at the Fidesz rally to carry only the official flag and not the traditional Hungarian Arpad flag, a modified version of which was used by the pro-Nazi government of 1944-1945. |
Yet some participants still carried the Arpad flag and sang songs lamenting the demise of Greater Hungary after World War I. | Yet some participants still carried the Arpad flag and sang songs lamenting the demise of Greater Hungary after World War I. |
Fidesz has been accused in the past of not dissociating itself from far-right elements. The party is in the main centre-right group in the European Union - the European Popular Party - and has vehemently denied that it harbours xenophobic or anti-Semitic views. | Fidesz has been accused in the past of not dissociating itself from far-right elements. The party is in the main centre-right group in the European Union - the European Popular Party - and has vehemently denied that it harbours xenophobic or anti-Semitic views. |