Protestors beat up Kyrgyz minister

2010-08-20 14:08

Osh - More than two thousand anti-government protestors rallied in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh on Friday, attacking a government minister and demanding the resignation of the country's president.

An AFP correspondent saw protestors, who were rallying outside the city administration building in support of their controversial mayor, beat up Labour Minister Aigul Ryskulova, who had been sent to calm the crowd.

She was later seen escaping in a car.

Osh Mayor Melis Myrzakhmatov, an outspoken critic of the central government in Bishkek, has not been heard from since attending meetings with the government in the capital earlier this week.

His supporters were demanding to speak with him as rumours that he had been sacked swirled throughout the city.

Kyrgyzstan, ex-Soviet Central Asia's most politically volatile state, has been wracked by political and ethnic violence since the overthrow of president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in popular protests in April.

- SAPA