Ukrainian opposition defiant after compromise offer

(MENAFN-Arab News) KIEV: The Ukrainian opposition vowed to press on with protests Sunday despite an offer of top posts made by President Viktor Yanukovych, as protesters seized another official building in the capital

Thousands of protesters, some clutching baseball bats and wearing gas masks, were again starting to fill the center of Kiev for new protests as tensions showed no sign of ending in the deadly crisis gripping the country

Two months after the protests began over Yanukovych’s decision to back out of a European Union pact, the president offered on Saturday to share leadership with opposition figures Arseniy Yatsenyuk as prime minister and Vitali Klitschko as deputy prime minister in a dramatic compromise bid

Opposition leaders said they would continue negotiations until other demands are met, in particular that presidential elections due in 2015 be brought forward to this year

One week after clashes first erupted between the opposition and police, protesters scored another victory by taking control of Ukrainian House, a Stalin-era exhibition hall near the protest zone, ousting about 200 interior ministry troops using it as a base.