Kyrgyzstan will keep US and Russian bases

Daily Times, Pakistan
Saturday, March 26, 2005

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s opposition named a new acting president on
Friday and won immediate and vital support from Russia.

Opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiev, who played a central role in the
protests that brought down former President Askar Akayev, said he
had been named acting president. “Parliament today appointed me prime
minister and gave me the functions of president,” he told supporters
in Bishkek.

President Askar Akayev’s government collapsed on Thursday after
thousands of protesters stormed the main administration building
in Bishkek.

The Kyrgyz opposition will allow US and Russian military bases to
remain in the country, said Bakiev on Friday. “Kyrgyzstan is not
going to review its obligations concerning the military bases of the
anti-terrorist coalition on its territory,” Itar-Tass news agency
quoted Kurmanbek Bakiev as saying.

The Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States Baktybek Adrisaev told CNN,
“This is an anti-constitutional coup.” But, Russian President Vladimir
Putin said Moscow was ready to work with the Kyrgyz opposition and
offered refuge in Russia to Akayev, who is thought to have fled to
neighbouring Kazakhstan.

“We know the opposition pretty well and they have done quite a lot
to establish good relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan,” Putin
told journalists during a visit to Armenia.

However, massive looting engulfed the capital early on
Friday. Uniformed police were nowhere to be seen on the streets where
cars without license plates cruised and groups of mostly young men
roamed, some with clubs in hand.

“It’s complete chaos,” said one resident who drove through the
streets. The gangs smashed shop windows, walking off with everything
from supermarket produce to refrigerators, microwaves and washing
machines. Others stuffed armful of clothing, hangers and all,
into cars.

The Narodny supermarket chain, which is reportedly owned by a
son-in-law of ousted veteran president Askar Akayev, seemed to be
especially targeted by the looters. The looting followed a dramatic
day that saw the city of tree-lined streets become the latest capital
of a former Soviet republic to witness the raw power of the street.

“We have taken control of the presidency!” cried Bakiyev as he and
other opposition leaders a crowd wild cheered on after hours of
pitched battles with anti-riot troops. “We have attained our goal,”
he said, moving triumphantly into the Soviet-era compound vacated by
ex-president Akayev.

Bakiyev, who resigned in 2002 to protest the bloody putdown of
an opposition that left six dead and marked a watershed in Kyrgyz
politics, was even cheered on by some government workers who quickly
changed sides.

A makeshift security cordon tried in vain to contain the masses
flooding inside to join in sacking the symbol of Akayev’s 15-year
leadership. Inside the presidential building, youths brandishing
wooden sticks grabbed juice cans from a vending machine that had
burst open under the assault. Upstairs, men carried off computers and
television sets while others went on a rampage, smashing windows and
throwing out chairs, documents and portraits of Akayev while waving
the national flag.

God forbid anybody would have to have such a revolution,” said Felix
Kulov after being freed from jail by supporters and then appointed
acting interior minister. A man was killed and 31 police officers
were wounded overnight, he said.

Protesters, sweaty and fired up by fighting and alcohol, proudly
displayed battle trophies of police helmets, bulletproof vests and
clubs. Some bragged about beating up members of Akayev’s administration
who were inside the compound at the time.

“Janusakov was hiding in his office,” said Mukhtar Sedibaly, a
52-year-old taxi driver referring to the deputy head of Akayev’s
administration Bolot Janusakov. “We came in, I beat him. How could
we tolerate him? On our collective farm, there is no flour or
sugar or oil, yet they have everything food, lovers, everything,”
he said. agencies