CHISINAU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Moldovan police has detained 166people involved in the violent actions earlier this week, the list of them may be found at the Chisinau general police commissariat or on the webpage of the Interior Ministry, the ministry announced on Saturday in a communique.

    According to the ministry's spokesman Ala Maleca, 86 people were arrested of all the detained persons. There are other 88 people under home arrest, and 33 more persons obliged not to leave the country during the carrying out of the inquiry.

    The involvement of 19 minors in vandalization actions was established, said Ala Maleca, stressing that they were accommodated at the placement centre for minors and subsequently delivered into their parents' care.

    The press officer specified that the relatives of all the detained people were informed about it by the police, including through lawyers.

    Ala Maleca said that the judicial authority will continue the investigation measures, so as to call to account all the people involved in the destabilizing actions of this week.

    Violent protests broke out after the central election commission announced Monday that the ruling Communist party won a landslide victory in the April 5 parliamentary elections. The opposition claimed the vote was rigged and protesters stormed the parliament and the presidential building Tuesday.

Moldova's main oppositions to stage rally in Chisinau on Sunday

    CHISINAU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Moldova's main opposition parties announced Saturday that they will stage a rally in the centre of Chisinau on Sunday.

    The leaders of the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Moldova Noastra Alliance -- the three oppositions which made it to parliament after the April 5 elections but which will hold a minority there -- made the statement at a joint press conference. Full story

EU welcomes ease of tension in Moldova

    BRUSSELS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Saturday welcomed the ease of tension in Moldova and urged moderate voices in the country.

    "I welcome the return to calm in the streets of Chisinau (the capital city of Moldova). At this stage, it is important that all involved keep avoiding the use of force or inflammatory rhetoric, and that the Moldovan authorities guarantee full respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights, including the rights of peaceful assembly, access to information and expression, " said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood policy. Full story

Opposition responsible for violence in Moldova: president

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin speaks at a press conference inside the presidential building in Chisinau, Moldova, on April 10, 2009. (Xinhua/Lin Huifen) Photo Gallery>>>

    CHISINAU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The responsibility for violence in the center of Chisinau entirely falls on those political parties that doubted the results of the polls, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said on Friday.

    The president made the remarks at his first briefing after the devastation of the presidential institution. Full story

Moldova's ruling Communists demand vote recount

    CHISINAU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Moldovan President and the Communists' leader Vladimir Voronin on Friday asked the Constitutional Court to allow the recounting of the votes from the Sunday parliamentary election.

    Voronin said that he submitted the demarche, as leader of the Party of Communists, in order to create fundamental conditions for a stabile functioning of the new-elected parliament. Full story

NATO chief voices concern over violence in Moldova

    BRUSSELS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer expressed concern on Wednesday over continued violence in Moldova.

    "I am very concerned about the evolving situation in the Republic of Moldova. I call for a peaceful solution to the current crisis and urge all parties to refrain from violence and provocation," said the NATO chief in a brief statement. Full story

President: Moldova not to allow further neglect of legislation after election

    CHISINAU, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Moldovan authorities will not allow anybody to further neglect the legislation, nor will it not allow a knot of extremists drunk of hatred to throw dirt at the country's democracy after the parliamentary elections, President Vladimir Voronin said in a statement on Tuesday.

    "Over the last 24 hours, the situation in Moldova has radically changed," he said, adding that "after the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections were made public, after the OSCE, the Council of Europe and observers of the European Parliament recognized the election's outcome, the leaders of the parties that lost the election resorted to forcible seizure of the power." Full story