Protesters Clash With Police in Bucharest : Romania: Government foes block traffic at capital’s main square for the fourth day. They demand President Iliescu’s resignation.

About 1,500 police occupied a square along the capital’s main boulevard after fighting anti-government demonstrators who blocked traffic Saturday for the fourth day.

Anti-riot troops and military police carrying shields and clubs moved in on the demonstrators, who unleashed a barrage of rocks and bottles. Hundreds of assembled Romanians booed as the security forces pushed in.

Many people were beaten and arrested. An unidentified man in civilian clothes beat an Associated Press correspondent, who was mistaken for a rioter. He was later released without being charged.

By nightfall, about 1,500 police and military personnel remained in University Square, and most demonstrators had dispersed. Traffic returned to normal.

Demonstrators have blocked University Square every evening since Wednesday, shouting for President Ion Iliescu to resign. Up until Saturday, 32 had been arrested.

Several anti-government demonstrations have occurred at the square since June 13, when police swinging clubs broke up a 53-day blockade. The police action led to violence in which officials said six people were killed.

Previous demonstrations were organized by students and activists who accuse Iliescu and his associates of being thinly veiled Communists, despite their role in ousting Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the December revolution.

This week’s rallies appeared to be mainly motivated by the country’s deteriorating economy and attracted mostly lower-income workers.

The protesters arrived around noon Saturday, halting traffic and shouting slogans demanding that Iliescu step down. They attacked cars trying to drive through. Fights broke out with supporters of the government.

“How can you be satisfied with the state of affairs in this country?” one demonstrator demanded of a group who had accused him of being a “hooligan.”

Dozens of demonstrators went after cars trying to break through their blockade, throwing rocks and beating on the cars with sticks and even crutches.

About 400 police cleared the square in the early evening, but demonstrators regrouped after police left and again took over the square, this time erecting fences along the sides.

Many people at the square opposed the demonstrators’ actions. Several times government supporters tried to forcibly remove barricades and persuade demonstrators to let traffic through. Fights broke out as the police looked on.

The AP correspondent was clubbed, kicked and punched by a man in civilian garb who took a club from a policeman. Civilians and police joined the fray, and the reporter was thrown in a van and driven to the nearby police precinct.

In a television interview Saturday before the latest confrontation, Interior Minister Doru Ursu said his anti-riot troops “are determined to assure public order . . . . No one will stop us from enforcing the law. Although I am opposed to violence, I am a supporter of law and order.”

He said he would soon propose a new law restructuring his ministry and governing the activities of police. He did not elaborate.