Kyrgyzstan: Opposition in control

2005-03-25 07:39

Bishkek - Opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan held the reins of power on Friday after President Askar Akayev's hardline regime collapsed and looting engulfed the normally sleepy capital of the Central Asian nation.

In a day of dramatic developments on Thursday, crowds stormed the White House compound housing the government and presidency and seized control of the main television station.

Amid reports that Akayev had fled the country as discontent over a disputed parliamentary election boiled over, the legislature then met in an emergency session to name opposition chiefs to the nation's top posts.

Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, elected as parliament speaker, will serve as interim president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev as the interim prime minister and Felix Kulov as the chief of the power ministries, deputies attending the session told reporters afterward

A council of national unity, headed by Bakiyev, will act as a temporary government, they said.

"Askar Akayev right now is not on Kyrgyz soil," Bakiyev said on television, after earlier reports that the 60-year-old, considered to be the most liberal of leaders in ex-Soviet Central Asia, fled the poor mountainous nation of five million on China's western edge that he has ruled since 1990.

But Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to the United States said Akayev had not relinquished power.

"The president has not resigned, he didn't sign his resignation and he is now in a safe place," Baktybek Abdrissaev said in Washington in a news conference televised by CNN.

Earlier Akayev was reported to have flown to neighbouring Kazakhstan.

Looting engulfed the capital

Massive looting engulfed the capital Bishkek as night fell, with bands of mostly young men smashing store windows and walking off with everything from supermarket produce to refrigerators.

Opposition leaders warned that looting would be punished, with Bakiyev pledging that "Kyrgyzstan will keep all its international obligations and law and order in the country will be restored very soon."

Bakiyev said Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev had resigned, and the Supreme Court announced that it had annulled results of the parliamentary election on March 13 which sparked the opposition protests.

Amid unprecedented scenes, protesters also freed Kulov, a former vice president jailed in 2000 and who many now believe will become the leader of the fractious opposition.

"Let's keep the peace, let's not lose our head," Kulov said into a megaphone, addressing some 4 000 people on the steps of the White House. "I want to thank you that you weren't afraid and were peaceful and civilized."

- AFP