Ukraine ? Ukraine’s president said he took command of 32,000 Interior Ministry troops Friday, and a ministry official rejected the order – deepening the country’s political crisis as police guarded the office of the fired prosecutor general.

The former Soviet republic edged closer toward potential violence as lawmakers and officials allied with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych called President Viktor Yushchenko’s order a “putsch,” and hundreds of supporters of each of the rival politicians staged competing rallies in Kiev.

Yanukovych and Yushchenko, along with other top political leaders, met late Friday for the first time since the president fired the prosecutor general a day earlier. The meeting lasted more than three hours and stretched into early today. A Yushchenko spokeswoman said the group would resume talks today.