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Correa declares victory over rebel forces in Ecuador
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa declared victory Saturday over rebel security forces behind a mutiny he claims sought to kill him as he urged the public to support loyal police.
Soldiers patrolled Ecuador's main cities, which gradually returned to calm. Quito's international airport and legislature were back to normal after being occupied briefly by rebel forces during the heavy gunfire and street clashes that killed eight people and left 274 wounded Thursday.
"This was a great victory for the government," Correa said in a nationally broadcast address from the presidential palace as he condemned Thursday's violence.
He insisted the rebellion was a coup attempt before the dramatic rescue of a tear-gassed Correa by loyal military and police from a hospital in Quito, where the unrest kept him holed up for half a day.
Three police colonels now in custody were due to appear before an arraignment hearing for their role in what began as a protest in Quito against cuts to bonus payments linked to seniority, before spreading to police stations in at least five of the country's 24 provinces.
The head of the national police, General Freddy Martinez, resigned.