Ecuadorian president slams 'savage' mutineers

Ecuador President Rafael Correa made a triumphant return to the presidential palace after loyalist troops rescued him from a police rebellion amid gunfire and street clashes that left at least two dead.

The Red Cross said two police were killed and 37 people wounded in the operation late Thursday that freed Correa from the National Police Hospital after 12 hours under siege by rebel police who he said wanted to kill him.

"We got him out, we got him out," Interior Vice Minister Edwin Jarrin told AFP.

Hustled to safety by troops and an elite police special operations unit, Correa emerged on a balcony at the presidential palace to a heroe's welcome from cheering throngs of supporters.

"We will never negotiate anything under pressure," Correa exulted, telling the crowd that he had told his captors: "Or I come out as the president of a worthy country or I come out as a corpse."

Tempers flare

The rescue capped a dramatic day of violence and confusion that began early Thursday when police angered over a law that would cut their bonus pay rose up in rebellion and seized barracks in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca.

Correa went to the police barracks to face down the mutineers, telling them he would not back down.

"If you want to kill the president, he is here. Kill him if you want. Kill him if you can. Kill him if you are brave enough, instead of hiding in the crowd."

But tempers flared at the barracks, and the president had to leave when scuffles broke out and tear gas exploded near him. Overcome by the fumes, he was taken out by stretcher to the nearby hospital.

Once inside, though, Correa was unable to leave, surrounded by mutinous police as clashes broke out in the streets of the capital and rebels stormed the Congress and seized the main airport for several hours.

President thanks special ops

A loyal police special operations unit protected the president and kept the rebels out, Correa said after his rescue.

"If not for them, this horde of savages that wanted to kill, that wanted blood, would have entered the hospital to look for the president and I probably wouldn't have been telling you this because I would have passed on to a better life," he said.

With the president under seige, dozens of Correa supporters descended on the hospital, chanting, "Down with the coup, down with the enemies of the people."

The Red Cross said 50 people were treated for injuries after clashes between the president's supporters and the police, while an impassioned Correa vowed to keep course despite the protests.

"The president is governing the nation from the hospital," Correa told local television by phone during the seige, vowing not to negotiate, saying: "I'd rather die."

The government declared a state of emergency and ordered the military to restore order.

Rebellion loyal to former president: Correa

Correa, 47, a leftist ally of his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, charged that the rebellion was an attempted coup by elements of police and the military loyal to former president Lucio Gutierrez, a retired colonel who was overthrown in 2005.

Interviewed by CNN in Brazil, Gutierrez denied "the cowardly, false, reckless accusations of President Correa."

The chief of police, General Freddy Martinez, resigned, a spokesman said. And Correa vowed to purge the police force.

The unrest, which recalled a military-backed coup against the elected president in Honduras last year, rocked Ecuador's neighbors.

Peru and Colombia closed their borders, and many leaders rushed to support the president.

The main regional group, the Organization of American States (OAS), backed Correa's claim that a coup was underway and was drawing up a resolution in emergency talks urging all sides to avoid violence.

The White House expressed "full support" for Correa and called for a peaceful end to the crisis, while EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged all sides to refrain from violence.

South American presidents held an emergency meeting in Buenos Aires and issued a statement denouncing the "attempted coup" and calling for those behind it to be tried and punished.

Correa, who has been in office since 2007, was re-elected last year to a second term as president of this chronically unstable country of 14.5 million people. Three of his predecessors from 1996 to 2006 were ousted before completing their terms.

With close ties to regional leftists like Chavez, Correa's presidency has been controversial, but he has maintained popular support.

Nevertheless, the public services law that sparked the police rebellion divided his own party, prompting Correa on Wednesday to threaten to dissolve the Congress and call early elections.