Mongolia cleans up as capital under uneasy calm

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - Mongolian officials cleared away debris left by a night of deadly riots as parliament convened an extraordinary session on Thursday to decide how to move forward after violence over alleged election fraud.

The violence that followed Sunday's vote has dampened hopes for a period of stable government to develop the mining sector and tackle inflation in the vast but thinly populated country, strategically sandwiched between China and Russia.

"The parliament has debated the declaration of the state of emergency by the president and has approved it," said parliament speaker Lundeejantsan in remarks carried on state television.

The capital Ulan Bator was calm after President Nambariin Enkhbayar declared four days of emergency rule from Tuesday night to quell rioters who threw stones, smashed windows and set the headquarters of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) on fire.

The mayor of Ulan Bator said city officials were clearing away about 40 tonnes of debris left by the rioting, which was sparked by anger over perceived unfairness in the parliamentary election, the fifth since Mongolia broke free of decades of Soviet influence in 1990.

At a regular news conference on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said China hoped Mongolia could maintain stability, adding that he had not heard of any moves to tighten security along the border or to restrict travels.

"As a friendly neighbor of Mongolia's, we hope China-Mongolia relations can keep up their sound growth and personnel exchanges can remain normal," Liu said.

International observers say the vote was largely fair.

The General Election Committee announced preliminary results on national television late on Wednesday.

They did not say specifically to which parties the winners belonged, but according to Reuters calculations, the MPRP won 45 seats, giving it a comfortable majority in the 76-seat parliament, or Great Hural.

"I think one thing now is very clear -- the election results will remain," said Chuluundorj, a retired Mongolian diplomat. "Maybe there will be disputes about some constituencies, but the main results can't be changed."

CORRUPTION AND POVERTY

The special session of parliament, which convened late on Wednesday, continued on Thursday, with members discussing how to prevent political violence -- rare in Mongolia -- in future.

Speaker Lundeejantsan also spoke of a need to form a government in order to move forward with the country's business, in particular tackling inflation at a decade-high and easing the poverty that has been blamed in part for the rioting.

"Society has been agitated for the last two years because of corruption and because of the situation of poor people," said Chuluundorj.

The uncertain political situation threatens to further delay deals that could unlock vast reserves of copper, coal, uranium and other resources beneath the country's vast steppes and deserts, seen as key to lifting the landlocked Central Asian state out of poverty.

The biggest project at stake is at Oyu Tolgoi, also known as Turquoise Hill, backed by Ivanhoe Mines of Canada and Rio Tinto

The two companies propose to spend up to $3 billion developing the field, which they say could raise Mongolia's GDP by more than a third.

(Writing and additional reporting by Lindsay Beck, Ben Blanchard and Guo Shipeng in Beijing; Editing by Alex Richardson)