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Soldiers are patrolling the streets of Yerevan for the second consecutive day, after Robert Kocharian, Armenia's president, imposed emergency rule.
The emergency was announced after protesters took on the Armenian police, accussing Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, the Armenian prime minister of rigging the presidential elections.
The unrest in Armenia is being considered the worst civil disobedience since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Witnesses saw police fire tracer rounds above the heads of protesters and lob tear gas into the crowd on Saturday.
Protesters armed with metal bars and petrol bombs torched cars and looted shops.
The authorities have said that eight people were killed in the clashes between the police and the protesters.
Emergency laws have banned all public meetings and restricted media reporting.
Levon Ter-Petrosian, the defeated presidential candidate, has blamed police brutality for the violence.
Diplomatic intervention
Heikki Talvitie, a special envoy for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), when asked if a negotiation between the two sides was possible, said: "In all likeliness, this kind of dialogue between Ter-Petrosian and the government, at the moment, is not possible."
However, Talvitie said there was a possibility that both sides could negotiate, in the days to come.
Talvitie said: "Let's not exclude it from the future."
Earlier, Talvitie flew into Yerevan on Sunday and met Kocharian and Sarkisian for talks.
Talvitie also met the opposition groups in order to break the deadlock.
A US state department spokesman said Washington was sending Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state, to help "facilitate discussions" between the government and opposition.
But he stressed Bryza would not carry out "formal mediation".
Meanwhile, analysts say Armenia is heading for a period of uncertainty as neither side has shown much willingness to back down.
Petrosian has told his supporters not to rally during the 20-day emergency period.
He also said that he is prepared to continue the protests afterwards.
However, a western diplomat said: "Petrosian is very determined and very charismatic. He'll find it difficult to step back from this now."
Disputed poll
Last month's presidential poll saw Sarkisian win 53 per cent of the vote and Petrosian 21.5, in an election that the OSCE described as flawed but sufficient enough for Armenia to fulfil its international obligations.
Armenia is a country of around 3.2 million people on the edge of the Caucasus, an oil transit route to Europe from the Caspian Sea where the United States and Russia have been vying for influence.
Kocharian and Sarkisian have presided over a period of economic growth, but detractors accuse their government of corruption and nepotism.
Petrosian was Armenia's first president after it broke away from the Soviet Union.
Although street demonstrations forced him to resign in 1998, he is still wanted by many who want an alternative to the current government.
The emergency was announced after protesters took on the Armenian police, accussing Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, the Armenian prime minister of rigging the presidential elections.
The unrest in Armenia is being considered the worst civil disobedience since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Witnesses saw police fire tracer rounds above the heads of protesters and lob tear gas into the crowd on Saturday.
Protesters armed with metal bars and petrol bombs torched cars and looted shops.
The authorities have said that eight people were killed in the clashes between the police and the protesters.
Emergency laws have banned all public meetings and restricted media reporting.
Levon Ter-Petrosian, the defeated presidential candidate, has blamed police brutality for the violence.
Diplomatic intervention
Heikki Talvitie, a special envoy for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), when asked if a negotiation between the two sides was possible, said: "In all likeliness, this kind of dialogue between Ter-Petrosian and the government, at the moment, is not possible."
However, Talvitie said there was a possibility that both sides could negotiate, in the days to come.
Talvitie said: "Let's not exclude it from the future."
Earlier, Talvitie flew into Yerevan on Sunday and met Kocharian and Sarkisian for talks.
Talvitie also met the opposition groups in order to break the deadlock.
A US state department spokesman said Washington was sending Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state, to help "facilitate discussions" between the government and opposition.
But he stressed Bryza would not carry out "formal mediation".
Meanwhile, analysts say Armenia is heading for a period of uncertainty as neither side has shown much willingness to back down.
Petrosian has told his supporters not to rally during the 20-day emergency period.
He also said that he is prepared to continue the protests afterwards.
However, a western diplomat said: "Petrosian is very determined and very charismatic. He'll find it difficult to step back from this now."
Disputed poll
Last month's presidential poll saw Sarkisian win 53 per cent of the vote and Petrosian 21.5, in an election that the OSCE described as flawed but sufficient enough for Armenia to fulfil its international obligations.
Armenia is a country of around 3.2 million people on the edge of the Caucasus, an oil transit route to Europe from the Caspian Sea where the United States and Russia have been vying for influence.
Kocharian and Sarkisian have presided over a period of economic growth, but detractors accuse their government of corruption and nepotism.
Petrosian was Armenia's first president after it broke away from the Soviet Union.
Although street demonstrations forced him to resign in 1998, he is still wanted by many who want an alternative to the current government.
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