Kyrgyz government ousted in violent revolt

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 7 April 2010 - 11:43pm

Anti-government demonstrations in Kyrgyzstan have escalated even further, as the government struggles to retain power. Officials say at least 40 people have died and 400 have been injured in the capital, Bishkek, after a day of deadly clashes between security forces and protesters. Opposition followers say the death toll is at least 100.

A key opposition leader, Temir Sariyev, has said the government has resigned but there is no official confirmation. Mr Sariyev said Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov had agreed to tender the government's resignation and that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev had fled the capital. On state television, it was announced that a new government, led by former foreign minister Roza Otoenbajeva, is being formed.

A French news agency has quoted an employee at Bishkek's international airport as saying that 60-year-old President Bakiyev had fled aboard a small plane bound for the southern town of Osh. However, a Russian news agency quoted a government source which said the president was still in the capital.

Earlier on Wednesday, protesters seized the parliament building. Rioters also attacked the offices of President Bakiyev, but were held back by security forces. In the town of Talas, demonstrators allegedly kidnapped Deputy Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov. Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongatiyev, who was believed to have gone to Talas to placate opposition followers, was reportedly to have been badly beaten. The rioters also stormed the state television and radio headquarters and programmes briefly went off air earlier on Wednesday.

Unrest broke out in Talas on Tuesday and spread to Bishkek and another town, Naryn, on Wednesday. The protests were sparked by the arrests of three opposition members, former prime minister and presidential candidate Almazbek Atambajev, the former parliamentary speaker and one of his associates.

Kyrgyzstan has been in the grip of political unrest for a month. The riots are a culmination of spiralling protests in the Central Asian nation with the opposition accusing the government of human rights violations, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he is shocked by the violence. Russia and the US embassy in Bishkek have called on the Kyrgyz government not to use excessive force against the protesters.

Both Russia and the US have military bases in Kyrgyzstan. The US base is strategically important for supplies to Afghanistan.