Azerbaijani opposition calls for protests

Popular Front leader Ali Kerimli urged the demonstrations in response to Wednesday's fatal attack on Elmar Husseinov of the weekly Monitor. No suspects have been identified.

President Ilham Aliyev ordered a swift investigation and called the attack a serious provocation against the state and authority. The slain journalist had come under government scrutiny and had previously been jailed and fined for his work.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said the killing appeared to have been well planned and orchestrated - while the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders called it part of a campaign of violence against journalists in Azerbaijan.

Also, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed shock at the attack and said it expects a swift investigation.