Moldova president says protests amount to "coup"

CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova's president on Tuesday said violent protests against an election win by his Communist Party amounted to a "coup d'etat" and said opposition leaders had embarked on a "path to the violent seizure of power."

"Everything that they have undertaken in the last 24 hours cannot be described as anything other than a coup d'etat," Vladimir Voronin said in a television address, referring to opposition leaders, after demonstrators ransacked the president's office and parliament.

Opposition leaders, Voronin said, "have embarked on the path of violent seizure of power" and the authorities "would resolutely defend the state against the leaders of the pogrom."

(Reporting by Dmitry Chubashenko, writing by Ron Popeski)