Unclear road map for peace

KIEV (AP):

AFTER A night of vicious streets battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed anew yesterday in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Hundreds of protesters, many wearing balaclavas, hurled rocks and stun grenades and police responded with tear gas.

The violence has seriously escalated Ukraine's political crisis, which has been marked by two months of largely peaceful protests. Here's a look at the unclear roadmap for peace in Kiev:

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The pro-Western protests in Kiev began on November 21 last year after President Viktor Yanukovych shelved a long-planned political and economic treaty with the European Union and then accepted a huge bailout package from Russian President Vladimir Putin instead.

The protests swelled to hundreds of thousands - the biggest since Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution - after riot police violently broke up a small peaceful student protest. Clashes broke out on December 1 between radical protesters and police, but demonstrations since then have been peaceful.

The most recent trigger

Sunday's violence came after Yanukovych pushed through a sweeping anti-protest law that significantly increased fines and imposed jail terms for unauthorized street protests. The new law also prohibits activists from wearing helmets or masks to demonstrations, curbs free speech, and limits the ability to investigate or monitor the activity of officials, including judges. The law also restricts the activity of non-governmental organisations funded by the West, as many are in Ukraine.