Kyrgyz president warns radical groups might forcibly seize power in election year
By KADYR TOKTOGULOV

The Associated Press
12/18/04 03:45 EST

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) – Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev has warned
that some radical groups might try to forcibly seize power next
year when the nation holds parliamentary and presidential elections,
his office said Saturday.

“Social and political tensions in 2005 will escalate dramatically and
radical forces might use armed methods in their struggle,” Akayev told
a Defense Council meeting Friday, according to the president’s office.

Akayev did not say what forces he meant. But he in the past criticized
opposition groups as radical and irreconcilable.

The country’s parliamentary elections slated for Feb. 27 are expected
to be hotly contested as they will set the stage for the October
presidential race.

Having completed two consecutive terms, Akayev is not eligible to
run again, but the opposition fears his loyalists might be scheming
to extend his rule or put in his place a candidate favored by the
establishment.

Akayev Friday urged law enforcement agencies to make all necessary
efforts to ensure public security and protection of human rights and
civil liberties in the election year.

However, Edil Baisalov, head of the coalition of civic groups “For
Democracy and Civil Society”, said Saturday Akayev’s remarks targeted
the political opposition and signaled that authorities might move
to restrict political freedoms ahead of the elections.

Akayev Friday also expressed concern about the spread of terrorism
and extremism in Central Asia. He said extremist groups were joining
radical groups linked to the international terror network as the
number of attempted terror attacks grows across the region.

Akayev also said he was concerned about the activities of the radical
Islamic Hizb-ut-Tahrir party and criticized local authorities for
lack of ideological work against the group, accused in neighboring
Uzbekistan of inspiring two waves of deadly attacks this year.

Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which originated in the Middle East and claims to
disavow violence, denied responsibility for the attacks. The group
that strives to create a worldwide Islamic state is persecuted across
the region.

Kyrgyzstan saw two bombings in 2002 and 2003 that killed eight people.
Authorities claimed they prevented three terrorist attacks against
a U.S.-led coalition base in Kyrgyzstan over the past two years.

Radical Islamic groups emerged in predominantly Muslim Central Asia
after the 1991 Soviet collapse, filling a post-communist ideological
void.