Street battles in campaign to overthrow Ukraine president

Demonstrators hurling bottles and stones have clashed with riot police using tear gas in the bloodiest protest in a lengthy campaign against Ukraine's president.

At least 20 people were arrested in two clashes in the capital Kiev.

The first began with a tribute to celebrate the 187th birthday of Ukraine's most famed poet.

Thousands of police encircled a small park in the city centre to prevent demonstrators from stopping president Leonid Kuchma from laying a wreath at a monument to Taras Shevchenko.

The annual ceremony took on extra weight this year because of mounting opposition to Mr Kuchma, whom critics accuse of corruption and involvement in the killing of an opposition journalist.

About 300 demonstrators attempted to break through police cordons at the monument, but were beaten back by police wielding batons. Several protesters and policemen were injured.

After Mr Kuchma departed and the police left, the protesters swept the wreath from the monument in what opposition leader Taras Chornovil called "a symbolical cleaning of the monument from the president" .

The demonstrators, growing to about 5,000 in number, then marched through the capital to the presidential office, where they again shouted demands for Mr Kuchma to step down.

The demonstrators threw bottles and stones at riot police who swung their batons and eventually used tear gas to disperse the crowd. More injuries, mostly among bystanders including journalists, occurred there.

Mr Kuchma left after the wreath-laying to meet flood victims in western Ukraine.