Update 5 - Protesters Try To Retake Hk Protest Site

Chaotic scenes broke out at a Hong Kong protest site late Friday as thousands of demonstrators tried to retake areas cleared in the morning.



An Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene reported that hundreds of police holding riot shields and plastic handcuffs had blockaded the end of the Mong Kok area of Nathan Road - which until earlier in the day had been occupied by protesters for almost three weeks.



One police officer - who gave his name as Paul Edmiston - told the Anadolu Agency that the police were ready should the protesters try and advance.



"I've told my boys to be tough if they [the protesters] come onto the road," he said.



The Hong Kong police force is predominantly Chinese in origin, but a few officers of British descent remain from the days of London rule.



By early morning, however, calm had again returned. Police had removed their helmets, and protesters appeared to have retaken Nathan Road south.



Many demonstrators were milling around the junction, holding their ground, and clearly waiting for police to leave the scene and return to their station.



Earlier Friday, hundreds of police had cleared the barriers in a 35-minute dawn operation, using chainsaws to break up most barricades, many of which were constructed from wooden pallets.



Pro-democracy protesters had occupied the intersection of Nathan Road and Argyle Street in Mong Kok for almost three weeks.



But they resorted to occupying just the southbound lane of one of the roads of the intersection after the barriers were cleared.



Mong Kok had been the site of scuffles between protesters and opposition groups during the almost three weeks of rallies.



The Occupy Central movement condemned the government for a "lack of sincerity" after police tore down the barriers in the early morning raid, saying it would only create obstacles for forthcoming talks.



"Police removed barricades in Mong Kok 15 hours after [chief executive] Leung Chun-ying said engaging in dialogue didn't mean the government would not clear the protest sites. We think it amounts to an open insult to the intelligence of Hong Kong people," it said in a statement.



Protesters still occupy the main Admiralty site, 'though in dwindling numbers'.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Hong Kong