Armenia president declares state of emergency

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, battling to contain rising opposition protests, declared a state of emergency in the capital on Saturday.

A statement from the presidential press service said Kocharyan had signed a decree declaring the state of emergency until March 20 "to prevent a threat to constitutional order".

(Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchyan, writing by Michael Stott, editing by Dmitry Solovyov)