DUSHANBE, April 8, 2010, Asia-Plus — The opposition in Kyrgyzstan says it is setting up a “people”s government” after deadly clashes left some 65 dead., BBC News reports
An opposition leader and former foreign minister, Roza Otunbayeva, told the BBC that new defense and interior ministers had been appointed. The whereabouts of President Bakiyev are not clear but reports say that he has flown out of the capital, Bishkek.
Ms Otunbayeva who heads the interim government said the interim government would remain in power for six months and draw up a new constitution. She is expected to address parliament later.
Protests at rising prices, corruption and the arrest of opposition leaders had erupted in three cities.
The health ministry said 40 people had died and nearly 400 of 495 people had been injured in the clashes, APF reported. But the opposition says that is far too low. In a broadcast on a TV channel it took over, spokesman Omurbek Tekebayev said at least 100 demonstrators had been killed.
BBC News reports the scene in Bishkek on Thursday morning was calm, with the opposition apparently in control of the government headquarters that were the scene of deadly clashes on Wednesday.
Kyrgyzstan is a strategically important Central Asian state and houses a key US military base that supplies forces in Afghanistan. Russia also has a base there. Ms. Otunbayeva said these military bases could continue as before.
The United States said it deplored the violence and urged “respect for the rule of law”. It also said it believed the government was still in control.
Russian PM Vladimir Putin denied that Moscow had played any role in the unrest, saying it was a “domestic affair” and that there should be “restraint”. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the protests showed the “outrage at the existing regime”.
A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon said the UN secretary general was “shocked by the reported deaths and injuries that have occurred today in Kyrgyzstan. He urgently appeals for dialogue and calm to avoid further bloodshed”.
The opposition used its channel to say that it was setting up a government. Ms. Otunbayeva said in a broadcast: “Power is now in the hands of the people”s government. Responsible people have been appointed and are already working to normalize the situation.”
The Associated Press news agency reported that an opposition leader had taken over the National Security Agency, the successor to the Soviet KGB.
But Galina Skripkina, of the opposition Social-Democratic Party, told Reuters news agency that the president had not yet resigned. “He must… formally submit his resignation to parliament so we can appoint a caretaker government,” she said.
Reuters also quoted the Kyrgyz border control as saying the frontier with Kazakhstan had been closed.
Agence France-Presse says the US has suspended military flights at its base in Kyrgyzstan.
The whereabouts of the president remain unknown. Opposition figures said he had flown out of Bishkek and had landed in the southern city of Osh.
Mr. Bakiyev came to power amid a wave of street protests in 2005 known as the Tulip Revolution, but many of his allies have deserted him claiming intimidation and corruption.
The unrest had broken out in the provincial town of Talas on Tuesday and spread to Bishkek and another town, Naryn, on Wednesday. All three were put under curfew. The violence may also have been exacerbated by the arrest of several opposition leaders, including Temir Sariyev, who was detained after arriving on a flight from Moscow on Wednesday. He was freed by protesters on Wednesday.
