Hong Kong police begin to dismantle protest barricades

Hong Kong, Oct 13 (IANS/EFE) Hong Kong police Monday began to remove barricades raised by pro-democracy protesters in some areas of the city occupied during demonstrations that began more than two weeks ago.

According to a police statement, the operation to remove the barricades began in the districts of Admiralty and Mong Kok in order to relieve traffic congestion.

The police said that their operations were not an attempt to clear the protest sites.

In the area of Admiralty, where people have gathered to protest around government buildings since Sep 28, police cleared two routes to facilitate access for public employees driving to work.

Last Monday, the protest organisers and the government agreed that the 3,000 administrative employees could walk to their offices, whose access points had been blocked by thousands of protesters during the the initial days of the demonstrations aimed at obtaining universal suffrage in future municipal elections.

Many pro-democracy demonstrators have been coming to the areas now cleared by the police, where the presence of the authorities has been strengthened, while waiting for new developments.

Meanwhile, many streets in downtown Hong Kong and some roads in the districts of Mong Kok and Causeway Bay continue to be occupied by dozens of protesters who spent Sunday night there.

The police action came a day after Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung described the movement as being out of control and added that there was almost no chance of the protests changing the Beijing government's decision on electoral reforms.

He also stated that he was confident that the protests would not last much longer.

--IANS/EFE

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