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Anti-Communist protests flared in the Balkan capitals Wednesday, with soldiers firing on demonstrators in Bucharest in the worst rioting in Romania since the December revolution that overthrew dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Thousands of Romanians angered by a pre-dawn police raid on protesters who had occupied a central square for 53 days stormed the state television station and set fire to police headquarters.
State radio reported that four people were killed, two of them shot to death. The broadcast added that 93 people were hospitalized, with four in serious condition. Witnesses reported seeing two bodies removed from near the Interior Ministry after soldiers fired shots from inside the building ringed by armored personnel carriers.
In Washington, the State Department said Wednesday that it deplores the use of "excessive force" by Romanian police. The department urged all sides to exercise restraint.
There were also mass protests against Communist authorities in Sofia, where voters gave strong endorsement to the Bulgarian Socialist (Communist) Party in elections held Sunday, and in the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, where 30,000 rallied to demand free elections in the republic of Serbia.
Violence was reported only in the Romanian confrontation, which had been brewing for weeks due to a standoff between ex-Communists and those who want all former party members barred from public office.
Witnesses said that police in riot gear moved on an encampment of protesters at University Square shortly before 4 a.m., chasing down those who tried to flee, dragging resisters to police vans and beating some with clubs and nightsticks.
One policeman with blood-stained clothing indicated that the harsh treatment was in retaliation for protesters having spat on officers during...