There was a rival demonstration by about 2,000 Communists and, according to various estimates, 500 Communists managed to get tickets into the hall.

They may not have posed any threat to the deputies inside, but the rival demonstrations were testimony to the divisions and uncertainties that plague Russian politics and society 15 months after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Supporters and opponents of the regime planned rival demonstrations in Sana'a for after noon prayers.

On Feb. 9 large rival demonstrations were held in Moscow, organized by supporters and opponents of the government.

A white supremacist group and an advocacy group for Somali immigrants are planning rival demonstrations in Lewiston on Jan. 11.

A rival demonstration held by the ruling party was estimated at one-third the size, made up of a staider, less ebullient and older crowd.

The republic, a recent arena for the separatism sweeping the Soviet Union, has been the scene of rival demonstrations for a week.

Outside Congress, as the debate continued into the early hours of Thursday, supporters and opponents of the bill held rival demonstrations.

In response, the Alliance of Islamist Forces, an umbrella group that includes Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, said it would hold rival demonstrations.