Ukrainian president calls early election

KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Friday announced an early presidential election as one of a package of measures aimed at ending the country's political crisis.

"I am initiating an early presidential election. I am also initiating a return to the 2004 Constitution with the redistribution of powers toward a parliamentary republic," Yanukovych was quoted by his press office as saying.

The president said that he was ready to form a new inclusive government to end the violence, which left dozens of people dead and hundreds of others injured.

The president made concessions to the opposition in a bid to avoid further bloodshed and casualties among the demonstrators and police officers.

Yanukovych hold meetings with the Ukrainian opposition leaders and international mediators - the foreign ministers of Poland, France and Germany and the chairman of Russia's human rights commission - overnight Thursday to seek ways out of the ongoing standoff triggered by the protests.

Anti-government rallies turned violent on Tuesday, when protesters attacked police with Molotov cocktails and set fires outside parliament. Police responded with stun grenades and water cannons. The confrontation left at least 77 people dead and hundreds of other injured.

Protests in Ukraine began in November when Yanukovych shelved a trade and economic agreement with the EU and turned instead to Russia for financial aid.