According to Itar-Tass news agency, Aliyev announced his decree on the emergency in a television address to the nation Monday evening. He said the state of emergency would remain in force for 60 days. The decree provides for joint patrols by police and military forces on city streets and warns that a curfew may be imposed in the capital, Baku.
Aliyev warned political parties, public movements and other organizations that any activities threatening the normalization of the situation in the city could be banned, the agency said.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Azeri Embassy in Moscow, Farkhat Agamaliev, said about 100 policemen from the anti-riot unit, OPON, stormed the Prosecutor's Office in central Baku and took hostage the prosecutor general, Ali Omarov. He said a number of people had been killed in the raid and Omarov badly beaten.
Reuters said Aliyev had described the OPON troops' action as a "coup d'etat" in his address.
According to Agamiliev the OPON attack on the prosecutors office followed the arrest on the weekend of three policemen on suspicion of involvement in the murder of two high-ranking Azeri officials.
Afiyaddin Dzhalilov, deputy speaker of the Supreme Soviet, and Shamsi Ragimov, head of the president's security department, were murdered last Thursday.
"These were political murders to exert pressure on President Aliyev," Agamiliev said. "A power struggle is going on in Azerbaijan."
He said the two dead officials had been political allies of the president but he denied Russian media reports that Dzhalilov had been Aliyev's son-in-law. Agamaliev said the attack on the prosecutor's office had been led by deputy Interior Minister Rovshan Dzhavadov, former head of the anti-riot police unit, who has recently been highly critical of Aliyev and the entire Azeri leadership.
He said the prosecutor general had been freed after negotiations with the authorities and policemen returned to their headquarters in central Baku on Monday morning. Troops had surrounded the building and were attempting to persuade the OPON units inside to give up their arms.
Itar-Tass reported that Dzhavadov, who had been fired from his post but had managed to get inside the OPON headquarters, was demanding an emergency session of the Supreme Soviet.
Telephone lines between Moscow and Baku were not working Monday and Agamiliev said the line had been cut "as a result of these disorders." Even the embassy could not receive information on what happened in the city, he said.
Nadezhda Feldman, a chief telephone operator in Moscow inter-city telephone office, said there had been no telephone communications between Moscow and Baku for the last two days.
Reuters said Baku telephone links, including satellite lines with other former Soviet republics had also been cut.
"The situation is drastically changing all the time," Agamaliev said. "Those who supported the president have now become his opponents and vice versa."
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.