Tensions high on Kiev square despite deal

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Anti-government protesters protected themselves with shields during clashes with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square (Photo courtesy Associated Press).
Anti-government protesters protected themselves with shields during clashes with riot police in Kiev’s Independence Square (Photo courtesy Associated Press).

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Anger is percolating at Kiev’s sprawling protest camp despite a hard-won deal between Ukraine’s opposition and its beleaguered president.

Protesters booed opposition figures who took to a stage Friday evening at Independence Square to present the deal.

One radical speaker at the camp threatened to go on the offensive with weapons if the opposition doesn’t demand that President Viktor Yanukovych resign by Saturday morning. Others started chanting “Death to the criminal!” referring to Yanukovych.

The president agreed Friday to relinquish some powers and bring the opposition into the government. But the deal stops short of the protesters’ main demand: Yanukovych’s immediate departure.

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