Anti-IMF demonstrators penetrate Bank Center in Budapest

Budapest, March 15 (MTI) - A group of over 100 demonstrators penetrated Bank Center, a huge office block in downtown Budapest, to present a petition to the representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday early in the evening.

The protesters, including Laszlo Toroczkai, president of the far-right Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement, had a quarrel with the receptionists who told them that the building was empty on the national holiday.

In response, some demonstrators lit pyrotechnic torches used mostly in soccer stadiums, then left the building. They moved to nearby Szabadsag Square, the site of violent riots in 2006 where Toroczkai encouraged his followers for further fights and resistance. However, after the speech, they left the square.

A local MTI correspondent said no police action was taken but some 20 riot police cordoned off the Bank Center building and investigators with trace dogs and pyrotechnic experts entered the building.