KYRGYZSTAN: Ousted leader holds rally with a few thousand supporters and calls for U.N. peacekeepers

Record ID: 212692

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Ousted leader holds rally with a few thousand supporters and calls for U.N. peacekeepers
  • Date: 13th April 2010
  • Summary: BAKIYEV ADDRESSING RALLY IN KYRGYZ VARIOUS RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KIMSANBAY DALIYEV, BAKIEV'S SUPPORTER, SAYING: "Of course I support him because two and a half million, seventy seven percent of voters supported him." BAKIYEV SITTING, LISTENING TO PEOPLE VARIOUS LOCAL POLICE MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAPEQS1QJ8EEUTSZXDZWBR8OT8
  • Story Text: Kyrgyzstan's interim government said on Monday (April 12) it was planning a special operation against ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who warned any attempt to seize him would result in bloodshed and said described the current events as "bandits seizing power".
    "You can't compare people's revolution of 2005 with these bandits seizing power. This is a total misinterpretation," Bakiyev told reporters before addressing a rally of a few thousand supporters in his stronghold in the south of the country, referring to 2005 when former Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev had to fled the country after widespread protests.
    Bakiyev ruled the poor Central Asian nation, where the United States operates a military air base supporting operations in nearby Afghanistan, for five years before fleeing the capital last week after days of violent and widespread protests.
    The interim government led by Bakiyev's opponents, which emerged after he fled and his government crumbled, says he must step down or face arrest. It has said it cannot guarantee his safety from those seeking revenge for the April 7 bloodshed in the capital, the worst in Central Asia for five years.
    Bakiyev -- who is holed up in his home village of Teyyit outside the city of Jalalabad -- told Reuters on Sunday that any attempt to kill him would "drown Kyrgyzstan in blood".
    Speaking to reporters, Bakiyev said he had spoken to an envoy from the United Nations to ask for peacekeepers to be sent to Kyrgyzstan to prevent an escalation of the situation.
    "Yesterday I spoke to (U.N. special envoy) Jan Kubis and told him: I, as the President of this country, ask you to make note of two of my requests. First, I ask you to bring U.N. peace keeping forces into the north of the country,"
    Bakiyev said outside a traditional felt tent, or yurt. "As my second request to Jan Kubis, I asked him to send an independent international commission which would conduct a thorough investigation of the events of April 7."
    Bakiyev has repeatedly refused to resign, though Russia has recognised the interim government's authority and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the head of the self-proclaimed government on Saturday.
    Bakiyev said he had not spoken to world leaders because they did not know his exact whereabouts and thus were unable to contact him, though he said he was still ready to speak to those who now claimed to rule the country.
    "I call them only bandits. It is a misnomer to call them the opposition," Bakiyev said after addressing a few thousand supporters gathered for the rally.
    There was no heavy security presence in the village and the situation appeared calm, a Reuters reporter said. Groups of men helping arrange the rally sheltered from cold and rain in a large hut, eating spiced rice and meat and sipping hot tea.
    "Of course I support him because two and a half million, 77 percent of voters supported him," said Kimsanbay Daliyev, one of Bakiyev's supporters attending the rally.
    Bakiyev has denied giving the order to riot police and troops to shoot into crowds of opposition protesters on April 7, saying a sniper tried to kill him on that day in his office.
    But the indiscriminate shooting of protesters and the uprising in Bishkek have shifted the balance of great power rivalries in Central Asia, which holds vast reserves of gas and lies between China, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea.
    The self-proclaimed government has said Russia is its key ally and some leading ministers have said the U.S. lease on its air base could be shortened, raising speculation Moscow could try to use the base as a lever in relations with Washington.
    The Pentagon says the Manas airbase is central to the war against the Taliban, allowing round-the-clock flights to Afghanistan. About 50,000 troops passed through it last month.
    The United States is sending a senior diplomat to Bishkek this week but analysts said Washington, which previously supported Bakiyev, has been slow to court the new government.
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