Slovene OSCE chairman to visit Kyrgyzstan 31 March

STA news agency
29 Mar 05

Ljubljana, 29 March: The OSCE chairman, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister
Dimitrij Rupel, is due to visit Kyrgyzstan this Thursday [31 March] to
meet interim Prime Minister and acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev,
interim Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva and interim Interior Minister
Feliks Kulov, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Rupel is to visit the country in Central Asia whose president was
toppled by the opposition following a controversial general election,
before his planned tour of the Caucausus as part of which he is due to
visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan this week.

Rupel has been reiterating that the role of the OSCE is not to choose
a new government in Kyrgyzstan, but to facilitate dialogue that could
in time lead to new elections. The OSCE is also prepared to offer its
expertise and any assistance necessary to bring stability to the
country, Rupel has said.

Rupel’s personal representative for Central Asia, Slovenia’s Alojz
Peterle, has been in Kyrgyzstan to examine ways of cooperation between
the interim government and OSCE in restoring order and securing
democratic process in this Central Asian country.