BUCHAREST, Romania -- Deposed dictator Nicolae Ceausescu has been arrested by rebel army units and will be put on trial, Romanian television reported Saturday as pro-democracy forces and Ceausescu loyalists fought fierce battles in Bucharest and other cities.
Heavy fighting was reported around the presidential palace in the capital Saturday evening. Hungarian Defense Ministry spokesman Gyorgy Kelety told Hungarian television that the army supporting the pro-democracy movement had defeated Ceausescu loyalists in the area.
The situation in the Romanian capital appeared to have stabilized following the battle, and Kelety told Hungarian television, 'Bucharest is quiet now.' A truck loaded with corpses rumbled down a downtown street, leaving behind a trail of blood as a reminder of the day's violence.
As Romania slipped into virtual civil war, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that Moscow and other Warsaw Pact countries would come to the aid of the Romanian pro-reform movement and army in their fight with the better-trained and often better-equipped pro-Ceausescu secret police forces.
Hungarian television reported, however, that an emergency meeting of the alliance -- set for Sunday -- had been called off because the situation in Bucharest had stabilized, with pro-democracy forces in control.
There was no accurate total for the number of dead and wounded throughout Romania, but unofficial estimates put the number at thousands.
Sources at the National Salvation Committee, which has taken over following the ouster of Ceausescu, said Saturday that 5,000 Romanians were killed by secret police Friday night alone when they fired into crowds gathered at the Communist Party Central Committee building.
Heavy fighting was reported Saturday in the cities of Timisoara, where the rebellion began last week, and in Arad near the Hungarian border.
The National Salvation Committee said over Romanian television that Ceausescu, his wife, Elena, and brother, Ilie, had been arrested and were under special army guard. The committee said Ceausescu -- who came to power in 1965 -- and his wife would face trial, but gave no details of how or where they were taken into custody.
'This is the moment of truth,' said Jon Iliescu, a spokesman for the committee. 'They will be tried by the people.'
Ceausescu -- who had been the last hard-line Soviet Bloc communist holdout against the reforms sweeping Eastern Europe -- had been in hiding since Friday, when he was whisked from central Bucharest by helicopter as demonstrators and rebel army units moved in.
Ceausescu's son, Nicu, a regional Communist Party boss, was arrested by citizens in the town of Sibiu after allegedly trying to take hostages to escape Friday. He was shown under guard on television.
Also under arrest was Interior Minister Tudor Pocteleniku, who went on television and appealed to pro-Ceausescu units to surrender.
Unconfirmed reports said about 3,000 Libyans and Syrians were sent to Romania to fight against the pro-democracy National Salavation Committee, which has the backing of most of Romania's armed forces. Libya officially denied the claims.
Paratroopers loyal to Ceausescu were airlifted into the capital Saturday just after midnight, and fighting took place in underground subway lines and near the studios of Romanian television, which was in the hands of army soldiers loyal to the pro-democracy forces, Romanian television reported.
Hungary, meanwhile, sealed its border with Romania after the Hungarian Red Cross said pro-Ceasusescu forces ambushed medical relief convoys delivering aid to massacre victims in villages just over the Romanian border.
Friday night's jubilation in Bucharest at Ceausescu's ouster gave way Saturday morning to confusion and fear as pro-Ceausescu forces continued to wage guerrilla warfare in the city streets with a seemingly limitless supply of weapons and ammunition.
Heavy shooting rang out throughout the city as the special units of Ceausescu's secret police attempted to retake the television station, even as pro-reformers broadcast pleas for help over the airwaves.
Members of the Salvation Committee asked residents to come to the television station building and help defend it from the forces.
Garbage trucks crammed with teenagers and young adults converged on the television building, their passengers armed with petrol bombs. Many said they were determined to defend the building with their bare hands.
'Down with Ceausescu,' the teenagers, mostly boys, chanted. 'We are free. Down with tyranny.' Some looked to be only 10 years old.
Hungarian and Romanian television reported Saturday that 12,000 people had been killed in the Transylvanian city of Timisoara.
Hungarian television said pro-Ceausescu forces entered a hospital in the city of Brasso, massacring patients and medical workers.
It was impossible to immediately confirm the reports.
At Bucharest's Victory Square and the nearby Foreign Ministry buildings, special civil guards, wearing only red, yellow or blue bands around their sleeves, checked cars and passengers.
Danish Red Cross Chairman Eigil Peterson said in Copenhagen there were between 400 and 500 injured at the Bucharest Airport and that Red Cross doctors from Geneva had flown to the capital to care for them.
'But the group has not managed to get out of the airport building, because of the heavy fighting around the airfield,' he said.
The new leader of the East European nation is former Foreign Minister Corneliu Manescu, official reports from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and Budapest said. It is likely the 73-year-old communist will be a caretaker leader until a new government can be formed.
In Moscow, Soviet leader Gorbachev said he would ask the Warsaw Pact allies to come to the aid of the Romanian people.
Gorbachev told the Soviet parliament an employee at Moscow's trade mission in Bucharest had been wounded in crossfire and the official Tass news agency said Soviet Embassy workers were also wounded.
'The Soviet Union is ready to render to the Romanian people and the new leadership of the country immediate and effective humane help to liquidate the consequences of the tragic events of recent days,' the government said in a statement carried by Tass.
Soviet news reports said two Soviet aircraft had arrived in Bucharest with medical supplies but could not offload because of heavy fighting in the area. The airport remained closed to other commercial and relief flights.
In Moscow, Soviet leader Gorbachev said he was willing to send medical aid to the pro-democracy reformers, who ousted Ceausescu Friday after 22 years of iron-fisted rule. Ceausescu had been in hiding Friday, reportedly directing members of his still loyal State Security Force. He fled presidential palace, which was occupied by pro-democracy forces.
Friday night's jubilation gave way Saturday morning to confusion and fear as pro-Ceausescu forces continued to wage guerrilla warfare in the city streets with a seemingly limitless supply of weapons and ammunition.
Heavy shooting rang out throughout the city as the special units of Ceausescu's secret police attempted to retake the television station, even as pro-reformers broadcast pleas for help over the airwaves.
Members of the Salvation Committee asked residents to come to the television station building and help defend it from the forces.
Ceausescu fell after a week of massive demonstrations by pro-democracy reformers, who clashed violently with Ceausescu forces.
Hungarian and Romanian television reported Saturday that 12,000 people had been killed in the Transylvanian city of Timisoara, where most of the demonstrations took place.
Hungarian television also reported that pro-Ceausescu forces entered a hospital in the city of Brasso, massacring patients and medical workers.
It was impossible to immediately confirm the reports.
National Salvation Committee sources said Saturday that 5,000 Romanians were killed Friday night by secret police who fired into crowds gathered at the Communit Party Central Committee building.
The State Security forces, or secret police, received more pay and privileges than the majority of Romanians and are better trained than the 100,000-strong army.
Some armed forces units joined the pro-Ceausescu secret police groups, making it particularly difficult for the forces backing the pro-democracy popular rebellion.
At Bucharest's Victory Square and the nearby Foreign Ministry buildings, special civil gards, wearing only red, yellow or blue bands around their sleeves, checked cars and passengers.
Hungarian televsion said Hungary sent convoys of food and other supplies to Timisoara and the eastern region of Romania early Saturday to help victims of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations by the Ceausescu regime.
Paratroopers loyal to Ceausescu were airlifted into the capital Saturday just after midnight, and fighting was reported in underground subway lines and in the studios of the Romanian television, which was in the hands of army soldiers loyal to the pro-democracy forces, Romanian television reported.
Ceausescu's son, Nicu, a regional Communist Party boss, was arrested by citizens in Sibiu after allegedly trying to take hostages to escape, Romanian television reported.
Danish Red Cross Chairman Eigil Peterson said in Copenhagen there were between 400 and 500 injured at the Bucharest Airport and that Red Cross doctors from Geneva had flown to the capital to care for them.
'But the group has not managed to get out of the airport building because of the heavy fighting around the airfield,' he said.
The new leader of the East European nation is former Foreign Minister Corneliu Manescu, official reports from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and Budapest said. It is likely the 73-year-old communist will be a caretaker leader until a new government can be formed.
