Police in Azerbaijan used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters after they torched the local governor’s house Thursday, in a rare outburst of unrest in the tightly-controlled state, reports and an eyewitness said. Locals in the northern Azerbaijan city of Quba set fire to the governor’s house in outrage at a recent televised remark that they deemed to be insulting, an eyewitness told AFP over the phone from Quba. Both the governor Rauf Habibov and Azerbaijan’s transport minister apologised before protesters, but the thousands gathered insisted the governor must resign and then torched his house.
Police then used tear gas to disperse the crowd, the witness said.Footage of the demonstration posted on YouTube showed the demonstrators filling the centre of the city, whistling and shouting slogans against the governor and local authorities. Pictures posted on the website of Radio Azadliq — the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe — also showed smoke billowing up from an area in the town. Radio Azadliq also said that the governor’s house was set on fire and other buildings damaged in the ensuing rioting.
