Thousands of Protesters Confront Mongolia Troops

Thousands of opposition party demonstrators confronted troops and police in the Mongolian capital Friday, defying a government decree making such rallies illegal, witnesses said.

It was the first time the Communist authorities had called in the army since Mongolia’s democracy movement sprang to life last December. No force was used, however, and the two-hour rally was peaceful.

At least 10,000 people and 1,200 unarmed soldiers and police faced each other at noon in Sukhbator Square in the center of Ulan Bator, a Western diplomat said. Other witnesses estimated there were 20,000 to 30,000 people in the square during the rally.

Police loudspeakers blared orders to leave the square, but demonstrators sang a popular protest song, “Honkh Nido” (Sound of the Bell), to drown them out.

The pro-democracy rally was one of the biggest in Mongolia, although organizers had hoped that 60,000 people would turn out, one diplomat said.

At one point, President Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat emerged from the imposing building which houses Mongolia’s Parliament to take a look at the rally, a witness said.

Diplomats said it was the first big test of the new Communist Party leadership, installed in March in response to opposition demands.

Mongolia, long dominated by the Soviet Union since becoming the world’s second Communist state in the 1920s, has introduced democratic reforms rapidly and peacefully.

Friday’s rally followed abortive talks Thursday between Ochirbat, who was appointed last month, and the opposition Mongolian Democratic Assn.

The MDA demanded that Ochirbat establish a “temporary people’s parliament” and an extraordinary commission representing all political parties before national elections are held.

Ochirbat has pledged free elections in late July.