Crowd by parliament thinned to 1,000, no incident reported

The huge crowd, which some said exceeded 300,000, who came to hear opposition Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán in a demonstration by parliament in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday, thinned to 1,000 people by 10 p.m. local time, an MTI on-site correspondent reported. The demonstrators were demanding the prime minister's resignation. A vote of confidence along party lines on Friday afternoon confirmed the PM in his place. Although the number of people staying on the square until midnight keeps decreasing, a persevering speaker said they would not leave until Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány resigns. Tape recordings are played with the voice of people who were placed under house arrest in the wake of violent acts committed in front of public television headquarters and elsewhere in the city over two weeks ago. Some demonstrators set fire to pictures of the embattled prime minister and chanted "Traitor". As there were no incidents during and after the demonstration, police did not have to interfere, Budapest police spokesman Péter Schőn told MTI on Friday evening. (english.mti.hu)