Romanian Soldiers Open Fire on Demonstrators

Soldiers shot at anti-government demonstrators outside secret police headquarters today after protesters attacked state TV offices and stormed and burned another police building, witnesses said.

One witness reported seeing at least two bodies outside the old headquarters of Securitate, ousted Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s hated secret police.

It was the worst outbreak of violence in the capital since Romania’s bloody December revolution that toppled Ceausescu and sent him before a firing squad.

President-elect Ion Iliescu called on “aware and responsible people” to surround government buildings and state television headquarters to prevent attacks by “extremist groups.”

The reported shooting came after steel-helmeted police had clubbed and dragged away demonstrators who had occupied a downtown square for 53 days. Police said more than 260 people were detained and a policeman was injured in that crackdown and subsequent clashes. They did not say how many protesters were hurt.

Demonstrators armed with clubs and carrying gasoline canisters stormed the regular police headquarters in central Bucharest during the evening, then torched nearby cars and trucks and a wing of the building.

Some of those working inside leaned out the windows, coughing and looking frightened. There was a series of explosions, apparently from the gasoline tanks of burning vehicles.

A crowd of about 1,500 people gathered outside the headquarters and booed angrily when helicopters flew overhead. Some protesters then marched toward Victory Square, headquarters of the ruling National Salvation Front.

The demonstrators say Communists still dominate the National Salvation Front, which has been in power since the revolution and won last month’s free elections.

In a communique issued before the attacks, Iliescu called on supporters to save Romania’s democracy “earned with so much difficulty.”

Iliescu, 60, became the first ex-Communist to win a popular presidential election in Eastern Europe last month. He pledged to build democracy and move Romania to a market economy.