YEREVAN, Armenia -- Opposition activists Friday accused President Levon Ter-Petrosyan of carrying out a witch hunt in a crackdown on dissent, keeping up their verbal attack on the Armenian leader.


"Realizing their imminent defeat, Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his supporters decided to cling to power by illegal ways, calling on troops and relying on criminal structures,'' Paruir Airikian, the leader of opposition Union of National Self-Determination, said at a news conference. "The current government is illegal,'' he said.