Anti-Red Protests A "Twitter Revolution"

Moldovan riot police stormed the former Soviet Republic's Parliament and president's office Wednesday that had been taken over by protesters who claimed parliamentary elections were rigged in favor of the ruling party.

President Vladimir Voronin's Communist Party, which has been in power since 2001, won about 50 percent of the vote in Sunday elections.

The demonstrators, who had gathered by the thousands Tuesday outside Parliament, demanding new elections and shouting "Down with the Communists" and "Freedom, freedom," had quickly organized using social messaging networks Twitter (including a searchable Twitter tag) and Facebook to spread information about the protests.

"We sent messages on Twitter but didn't expect 15,000 people to join in. At the most we expected 1,000," said Oleg Brega, who heads the non-governmental pro-democracy group Hyde Park. He added that the attack on Parliament and the adjacent presidential office was not planned.

The demonstration, which started peacefully, soon turned violent, as the crowd - primarily young people carrying European Union, Moldovan and Romanian flags - broke through police lines.

A small number stormed the government buildings, setting fire to furniture and hurling computers out of windows.

Police fired water cannons but were unable to stop protesters from breaking into the parliament and an adjacent presidential office.

Later, police tried unsuccessfully to use tear gas and firecrackers to hold back a second surge toward parliament by 2,000 protesters, but abandoned the effort.

More than 50 people were injured.

On Tuesday the president blamed pro-European opposition parties in his country for the violence, calling them "fascists (who) want to destroy democracy and independence in Moldova."

Demonstrations continued into Wednesday. About 400 protesters gathered outside the government headquarters in Chisinau and dozens more outside Parliament.

A Moldovan opposition leader said on Wednesday that election officials had refused a request for a recount of a weekend parliamentary election won by the ruling Communist Party.

"They have just informed us that the Central Election Commission has rejected this. They have broken off the agreement we reached with (Moldovan President Vladimir) Voronin," Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said in an interview.

He expected "some very serious repression" after violent opposition protests on Tuesday. "I am not ruling out arrests both of political leaders and participants," he added.

On Wednesday, an Associated Press reporter saw about 100 riot police surround the buildings before regaining control.

Police arrested 193 people, including eight minors, on charges of "hooliganism and robbery," Interior Ministry spokeswoman Ala Meleca said. Some were suspected of looting shops in the capital of Chisinau as the unrest continued into the night.

The New York Times reported that after firsthand accounts of protesters being injured by police were uploaded via Twitter, Internet service in Chisinau was abruptly cut off.

International observers said Moldova's election was fair, but Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Party, said many people voted more than once.

Opponents blame the Communists for low living standards and for preventing the former Soviet Republic from forming closer ties with the European Union. Moldova, with a population of 4.1 million, remains one of Europe's poorest nations with an average monthly salary of $350.

The Communists have enjoyed close relations with Russia and say they want to strengthen relations with the European Union. The only foreign leader to congratulate Moldova after the elections was Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Romania, more than 1,000 people, mostly students, gathered in rallies to support the Moldovan protesters.

Moldova was part of Romania until 1940.

President Voronin on Wednesday accused Romania of being behind the protests and declared its ambassador to Moldova, Filip Teodorescu, persona non grata, Russian language news agency Newsmoldova reported. Romania's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Two Romanian press groups protested that 18 journalists working for Romanian and international media were not allowed into Moldova by border police on Tuesday. They said the journalists were told they did not have medical insurance or an official invitation, which are not usually required.

Back at the Moldovan capital, authorities cleared streets littered with smashed computers, torn-apart armchairs and broken chairs from the Parliament. They swept up burnt documents and shards of glass.

Every window on the first six floors of the 11-story Parliament building was smashed.