Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005
Kyrgyz crisis hots up
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, MARCH 22 . Kyrgyzstan's President, Askar Akayev, ruled out using force to put down wide-spread protests in the south against alleged manipulation of the recent parliamentary election.
Opening the first session of Parliament on Tuesday, Mr. Akayev accused the Opposition of provoking authorities to use "harsh force" against protesters. He said Parliament was legitimate and vowed to foil any attempt to stage a revolution.
Kyrgyzstan's second biggest city of Osh and four towns in the south remained under the Opposition control after thousands of people seized government buildings in protest against what they claimed was massive vote rigging in the February 27 and March 13 parliamentary poll that gave pro-government parties 90 per cent of seats.
Busloads of protesters were reported to be heading from the south to the capital Bishkek to press the Opposition's demands. Bishkek and the rest of Kyrgyzstan's north remained calm.
Analysts said the protests in the multi-ethnic southern provinces could plunge the former Soviet republic of 5 million into civil war. The impoverished region was the scene of bloody communal clashes between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in 1990, and experts fear that old rivalries may surface again.
There is also a danger that Islamist fundamentalists may take advantage of the crisis to seize power.
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