KYRGYZSTAN: OSCE URGES COUNTRY'S NEW LEADERS TO START TALKS WITH OUSTED PRESIDENT AKAYEV TO SECURE HIS FORMAL RESIGNATION/100 PEOPLE STAGE PROTEST OUTSIDE RUSSIAN EMBASSY TO DEMAND AKAYEV RETURN ALLEGED STOLEN FUNDS

Record ID: 584911

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: OSCE URGES COUNTRY'S NEW LEADERS TO START TALKS WITH OUSTED PRESIDENT AKAYEV TO SECURE HIS FORMAL RESIGNATION/100 PEOPLE STAGE PROTEST OUTSIDE RUSSIAN EMBASSY TO DEMAND AKAYEV RETURN ALLEGED STOLEN FUNDS
  • Date: 31st March 2005
  • Summary: (EU) BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (MARCH 31, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. EXTERIOR OF THE OSCE ACADEMY IN BISHKEK 0.07 2. CU: OSCE SIGN ON WALL 0.13 3. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE BY ORGANISATION OF SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE) 0.20 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIMITRIJ RUPEL, OSCE CHAIRMAN AND SLOVENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYING: "I would like to express my support to the initiative that the parliament has produced, namely the initiative to negotiate with former, I mean with President Akayev, regarding his resignation." 0.40 5. OSCE OFFICIALS 0.46 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUPEL SAYING: "I support negotiations, the OSCE supports the negotiations; excluding President Akayev from this volatile period would be dangerous." 1.02 7. REPORTERS LISTENING 1.10 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RUPEL SAYING: "It seems that Mr. Kulov (Kyrgyz opposition leader Felix Kulov) is a respected statesman in Kyrgyzstan. Now I expect that Mr. Kulov would participate in the elections that would produce a new president; I say that his legal status should be clarified soon, I mean so soon that he should be able to participate in the electoral process." 1.45 9. SCU: REPORTERS 1.53 10. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 2.02 11. PAN: OSCE CONVOY LEAVING COMPOUND 2.14 12. WIDE OF SIT-IN PROTEST OUTSIDE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN BISHKEK 2.21 13. BANNER HELD BY PROTESTERS, WHICH READS (in Kyrgyz): "People for the truth!" 2.29 14. WIDE EXTERIOR OF RUSSIAN EMBASSY 2.35 15. RUSSIAN FLAG SEEN THROUGH TREES 2.39 16. WIDE OF PROTESTERS SEATED WITH BANNER OUTSIDE EMBASSY 2.47 17. CLOSE OF BANNER IN RUSSIAN READING (in Russian): "Askar Akayev, you will pay back for everything!" 2.54 18. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ASKAR, A PROTESTER SAYING: "People are against Akayev because of all the money he has stolen from the people over the last 15 years; people want him to return this money." 3.08 19. TWO MEN HOLDING BANNER READING 3.12 20. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FATIMA, A PROTESTER SAYING: "We understand that the Russian government gave him (President Askar Akayev) refugee status for humanitarian reasons and not for political reasons. We want Askar Akyaev to return with the stolen money." 3.39 21. LV: EXTERIOR OF RUSSIAN EMBASSY 3.44 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 15th April 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ZLEHGK8JYXEMEORJIDV9YI2I
  • Story Text: OSCE urges ousted Kyrgyz leader to resign;
    protesters criticise Russia for givng Akayev refuge.


    The Organisation of Security and Co-operation in
    Europe (OSCE) urged post-coup Kyrgyzstan's new leaders to
    start negotiations with ousted President Askar Akayev to
    secure his formal resignation.

    Excluding Akayev, who is in exile in Russia, would be
    dangerous given current instability in the Central Asian
    state, OSCE chairman Dimitrij Rupel told reporters on
    Thursday (March 31).

    "I would like to express my support to the initiative
    that the parliament has produced, namely the initiative to
    negotiate with former, I mean with President Akayev,
    regarding his resignation." Rupel told reporters.

    He added that talks with Akayev were vital for a stable
    transition in Kygyzstan.

    "I support negotiations, the OSCE supports the
    negotiations; excluding President Akayev from this volatile
    period would be dangerous," said Rupel.

    Rupel spoke after meeting the key leaders of the poor
    ex-Soviet state, where a coup by opposition protesters
    overthrew Akayev on March 24, including acting President
    Kurmanbek Bakiyev and former security chief Felix Kulov.

    The OSCE chairman also said that Kulov should make it
    clear whether he intended to participate in presidential
    elections planned for June.

    "It seems that Mr. Kulov (Kyrgyz opposition leader
    Felix Kulov) is a respected statesman in Kyrgyzstan. Now I
    expect that Mr. Kulov would participate in the elections
    that would produce a new president; I say that his legal
    status should be clarified soon, I mean so soon that he
    should be able to participate in the electoral process."
    Akayev, 60, has said he would be prepared to resign if
    he was given security guarantees on his return.

    Parliament's speaker Omurbek Tekeyav told Rupel earlier
    that such guarantees could be arranged for the veteran
    leader, though Bakiyev has said he fears his return would
    spark unrest and has urged him to stay away.

    Meanwhile, some 100 people staged a sit-in protest
    outside the Russian embassy in Bishkek on Thursday,
    demanding Akayev had over funds that they alleged he had
    taken from Kyrgyzstan's national coffers.

    "People are against Akayev because of all the money he
    has stolen from the people over the last 15 years; people
    want him to return this money," said Askar, a protester.

    A woman protester, Fatima, demanded Akayev's return
    along with the funds she said he had taken.

    "We understand that the Russian government gave him
    (President Askar Akayev) refugee status for humanitarian
    reasons and not for political reasons. We want Askar Akyaev
    to return with the stolen money," she said.


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