Subject: News Digest on Sanjaasuregiin Zorig's death
Slain Mongolian Democrat's Colleagues Call Death Political Crime
AP, 05-OCT-98
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) -- Mongolia's pro-democracy leaders on Monday condemned the slaying of a government minister, calling it a political crime aimed at toppling the fledgling democracy.
Leaders of the governing democrats and opposition politicians joined about 5,000 people thronging the square outside parliament to mourn the killing Friday of Sanjaasuregiin Zorig, a leader of the 1990 triumph over Soviet-sponsored communism.
Zorig's death shocked Mongolia's fractious political establishment and complicated a political standoff between democrats and former communists that has left the impoverished country without an effective government for four months.
Police refused to speculate about motives for the killing of Zorig, a minister in the ruling Democratic Coalition who had emerged as a compromise candidate for prime minister to end the political stalemate.
National Police Chief D. Muren said a special investigative team had been formed to hunt for the killers and checks were tightened along Mongolia's borders with China and Russia.
Zorig's killers entered his apartment Friday night, tied up his wife and waited for him to return home. He was then stabbed and hacked with a knife and an ax.
"This was a political crime," Da. Ganbold, one of several democratic politicians now under police protection, told mourners Monday.
"The people who killed Zorig have a desire to bring down democracy, but this will never happen," said fellow democrat E. Bat Uul.
The opposition began a boycott of parliament in June, accusing the democrats of profiting from a merger between a state bank and a private bank.
The government fell in July. While the prime minister and his Cabinet have continued as caretakers, President N. Bagabandi has refused to approve five nominees put forward by the democrats.
A presidential aide said Monday the president and Zorig discussed his possible appointment last week and his nomination could have been approved as early as Thursday.
Slain Mongolian Democracy Leader Buried
Reuters, 07-OCT-98
ULAN BATOR, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Mongolia's capital on Wednesday as a coffin containing the body of slain democracy leader Sanjaasuregiin Zorig was driven to a burial ground.
Thousands more packed Ulan Bator's main square, where candlelight vigils have been held each night since Zorig's brutal axe murder on Friday.
The coffin was removed from Government House, where Zorig's body has been displayed to the public, and transported to a burial site just outside the city.
Dubbed Mongolia's "Golden Magpie of Democracy," Zorig was hacked to death by axe-wielding assailants in what government politicians have branded an assassination by enemies of democracy.
The killing sparked widespread public outrage and deepened a four-month rift between governing democrats and an opposition composed of former communists.
Dozens of government officials filed past Zorig's body in Government House. The corpse was dressed in black and adorned with a blue silk sash, a traditional sign of respect.
Several leading democrats were surrounded by bodyguards as they paid their last respects, fearing Zorig's murder may be just the start of political violence.
At a time designated by Buddhist rite, Zorig's coffin was buried next to his father's grave.
Soldiers with hats in hand lined the route to the burial ground and police stopped all traffic in the city as the funeral procession crept past.
Zorig's death put a temporary halt to a dispute over the future of Mongolia's government, but the crisis was expected to resume after the mourning stopped.
The main opposition Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party sparked the division by boycoting parliament and forcing the resignation of the government in July.
Disagreement over the nomination of a new prime minister has stalled key legislation, including an industrial privatisation programme.
Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and his cabinet remain in office as the acting government.
Mourners Weep for Father of Mongolian Democracy
Reuters, 07-OCT-98
ULAN BATOR, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Weeping mourners packed a cemetery for the funeral of slain Mongolian democracy leader Sanjaasurengiin Zorig on Wednesday, draping his coffin with blue silk scarves in a traditional sign of respect.
Zorig's body was laid to rest next to the grave of his father at a state burial ground just outside Ulan Bator.
Dubbed Mongolia's "Golden Magpie of Democracy," Zorig was stabbed and axed to death in his home on Friday by two assailants. Government politicians have branded the killing an assassination by enemies of democracy.
Sobbing mourners placed money and scarves in front of a larger-than-life bust of the slain leader erected at the burial site.
Soldiers in traditional Mongolian robes fired a volley of shots over the grave while grieving family members paid their last respects.
Workers have begun laying the foundations for a second statue of Zorig in central Ulan Bator.
The bloody killing sparked widespread public outrage and deepened a four-month rift between governing democracts and an opposition composed of former communists.
Zorig, 36, was the hero of pro-democracy protests that toppled a Soviet-backed communist system and led to the country's first popular vote in 1990. At the time of his death he was minister for infrastructure.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of the Mongolian capital as Zorig's body was taken to the cemetery.
Soldiers with hats in hand lined the route and police stopped traffic in the city as the funeral procession crept past.
Thousands more mourners packed Ulan Bator's main square where Zorig's body was displayed in an open coffin at Government House. Mongolians have held candlelight vigils for Zorig in the square each night since the killing.
Several leading democrats were surrounded by bodyguards as they filed past the coffin, fearing Zorig's murder may be just the start of political violence.
Zorig's death put a temporary halt to a dispute over the future of Mongolia's government, but the crisis was expected to resume after the mourning stopped.
The main opposition Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party sparked the division by boycotting parliament and forcing the resignation of the government in July.
Disagreement over the nomination of a new prime minister has stalled key legislation, including an industrial privatisation programme.
Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and his cabinet remain in office as the acting government.
Zorig was widely viewed as an acceptable compromise by both sides to be the next prime minister after four other candidates were rejected. Parliamentary leaders had been scheduled to meet this week to discuss his candidacy.
Thousands Mourn Murdered Mongolian Politician
AP, 07-OCT-98
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) -- In a public outpouring of grief, thousands of Mongolians turned out today to mourn and honor a popular minister who was knifed to death.
The body of Sanjaasureniin Zorig, a leader of the 1990 triumph over Soviet-sponsored communism, was laid to rest at a cemetery for senior officials on the outskirts of the capital, Ulan Bator.
Some 7,000 mourners showed up to slowly file past Zorig's open casket as it lay in state at Government House. Between 12,000 to 15,000 people lined the streets to watch as an army truck slowly carried the casket to the cemetery.
"This tragedy has really brought the nation together. We are mourning Zorig's loss like a family," said A. Ariunbat, a student.
Scuffles occurred when some people realized they would not get to see Zorig's body. Police struggled to hold the crowd back, and several elderly people fainted in the crush.
Governing democrats, opposition politicians and ordinary citizens all have gathered downtown daily to express sadness over Zorig's killing late Friday night.
The killing shocked Mongolia's fractious political establishment and complicated efforts to end political standoff between democrats and former communists. The dispute has left the impoverished Asian country without an effective government for four months.
Before his death, Zorig, the minister of infrastructure and telecommunications, was emerging as a compromise candidate to end the political stalemate.
Police have refused to speculate about motives behind the killing. A special investigative team is hunting for the killers, and police checks along Mongolia's long, sparsely populated borders with China and Russia have been tightened.
Zorig's killers entered his apartment Friday night, tied up his wife and waited for him to return home. He was then stabbed.
source: http://cnn.com
