Word: riot
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...country where political demonstrations require official permission and signs of popular unrest are regularly greeted with swarms of riot police, the ElBaradei reception was remarkable. Crowds gathered, chanted, called for an end to Mubarak and even entered the airport. And there were no riot shields in sight. "Mohamed ElBaradei is an international figure," says Samer Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University. "Although I wouldn't put it past the regime, it would be a media blunder to greet him with scores of riot police trying to block supporters from showing their appreciation and welcoming him back...
...Trouble was in the air. Another group was mingling near the statue of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, holding posters of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The opposition had scheduled a protest near the statue - the first of many, according to organizers - demanding the release of Fonseka. Police, some in riot gear and with water cannons at the ready, stationed themselves between the two groups to prevent a clash. (See a two-minute bio of Sarath Fonseka...
...disputed election, security forces were still stationed in large numbers at major intersections and squares. Alongside regular uniformed officers stood civilian members of Iran's Basij paramilitary front, many of them teenagers with flossy beards and uncertain looks, lacking shoulder pads and body armor. Their borrowed batons and riot helmets looked incongruously large compared with their skinny frames. Meanwhile, the ranks of the opposition bristled with reports that they now plan to field armored antiriot vehicles purchased from China in their fight against street protesters...
However, there had been no riot police or civilian militia to deter one large gathering. On Wednesday, Dec. 30, in Tehran's Revolution Square, firebrand pro-government cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda stood before a large pro-government rally and tried to pump it up with language little short of an incitement to civil war. "Enemies of the leader, according to the Koran, belong to the party of Satan," Alamolhoda declared. "Our war in the world is war against the opponents of the rule of the Supreme Leader...
...supporters attacked the U.S. embassy with rocks, eggs and improvised explosives fired from homemade mortars, which packed enough punch to break bulletproof windows. For several weeks afterwards, Sandinistas continued to hound Callahan, surrounding him at public events and forcing him to flee - on one occasion with the help of riot police...