Chisinau, Moldova - Police from Moldova and its breakaway Transnistria province used fists and, according to one report, tear gas, in a clash over a polling site in the ceasefire zone between the two sides, the Infotag news agency reported Monday. The incident began early Sunday morning in the village Korzhov on the Dniestr River, in disputed territory between Moldova and Transnistria.
Russian-speaking Transnistria seceded from Romanian-speaking Moldova after a civil war ending in 1992. The sides have never signed a peace treaty, and no country recognizes Transnistria's de facto independence.
The ceasefire line between Moldova and Transnistria runs between the city of Dubossary, which is under Transnistrian control, and the suburban village Korzhov, administered by Moldova.
Uniformed and plain clothes Transnistrian police broke into the Korzhov voting centre - one of the few public buildings in the village - taking control of the structure early Sunday.
The Transnistrian law enforcers used clubs, boots, and fists to eject Moldovan election staff from the building, said Viktor Makrinsky, a Moldovan observer to the ceasefire zone.
More than 200 Transnistrian para-military reinforcements later arrived in the area, cutting power and telephone services to the village.
A standoff ensued after dozens of Moldovan police concentrated at Korzhkov later in the morning. Heated discussions between the law enforcers led to fisticuffs and, according to a Transnistrian radio report, the use of tear gas by the Moldovan police.
Marinsky denied Moldovan service personnel had employed any weapons in the fracas. Moldova's central election council cancelled plans to hold the vote in the village.
Moldova's military command then ordered the village evacuated of civilians - a move rarely seen during the 15 years of the ceasefire zone's generally peaceful existence.
Ion Liachu, a top Moldovan official in the long-stalled reunification talks between Chisinau and Tiraspol, accused Russian peacekeepers of failing in their duties to protect the civilian population living in the ceasefire zone from military intimidation.
Some 1,500 Russian peacekeepers are stationed in Transnistria, despite a Kremlin commitment to remove all combat forces from the region by the end of 2004.
Viktor Shanin, Russia's top representative in the region, reacted sharply to Liachu's charges, stating, "You shouldn't try to transfer responsibility from a sick head to a healthy one."
Reports on Transnistria's state-controlled television blamed the incident on Moldova, alleging Chisinau engineered the Korzhov conflict to paint Russian peacekeepers in a bad light.
The Kremlin pays lip service to the idea of Transnistrian reunification with Moldova, but nonetheless supports Transnistria's authoritarian leader Igor Smirnov with energy credits and markets for his exports.
Korzhov is a particular flash point in the chronic disputes between Moldova and Transnistria, because Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin was born and spent his childhood there.
Some 1,350 registered voters live in the village, according to Moldova's Central Election Committee.
