CNN

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- 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 Saturday. Yanukovych left without speaking to reporters and a Yushchenko spokeswoman said the group would resume talks on Saturday.

Tensions between the pair have been building for weeks, and the president's move to take control over the troops, reflecting doubt on the loyalty of servicemen under the ministry's command, suggested rising concern over possible clashes.

Analysts blamed both men for the impasse and warned that international mediators may have to intervene to prevent further disorder or bloodshed.

"If before, people felt apathy and irritation for authorities, now they hate it, now the government has lost all authority," political analyst Kost Bondarenko said. "Now everybody thinks that any sergeant can stage a coup."

In a statement on the presidential Web site, Yushchenko said the order was necessary "to prevent using Interior Ministry troops in the interest of some political forces that cause a threat for Ukraine's national security."

But ministry spokesman Konstantin Stogniy said the order was illegal, and "fulfilling illegal orders is a crime."