Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

U.S. Offers Hand to Kyrgyzstan Leadership


Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasuyk said he and his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zurabishvili, will travel to Kyrgyzstan to help officials restore stability.

Both the Ukrainian and Georgian governments were put into power by Bush. These are not true democracies as they are answerable to Bush. Here we see the two whores scurrying off to Kyrgyzstan.

Excuse me, I think I am going to hurl.

-Am

Wednesday March 30, 2005 4:31 PM


AP Photo MOSB103

By KADYR TOKTOGULOV

Associated Press Writer

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) - A prominent foe of ousted President Askar Akayev offered renewed security guarantees Wednesday if he returned home from his refuge in Russia, and the U.S. ambassador extended a hand to the new leadership of Kyrgyzstan.

Akayev, who fled this ex-Soviet republic March 24 after protesters stormed the presidential headquarters, hinted in a Russian television interview Tuesday that he might be willing to resign if he received proper guarantees. But he said he would only trust them from new parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev.

``We guarantee Akayev his personal security, the security of his property and free movement,'' former opposition leader Felix Kulov said.

The new Kyrgyz authorities are eager to secure Akayev's resignation, seeing it as an essential step to restore a sense of order and legitimacy to the nation's politics.

But interim leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev said it was too early for Akayev to return.

``At this moment, Akayev's return would not be right because I am concerned about the security situation,'' Bakiyev said on a televised call-in show.

Akayev told Russia's state-run Channel One TV that he might be willing to step down to help ensure legitimacy for Kyrgyzstan's next elected leader. But he insisted he was still Kyrgyzstan's legitimate leader.

Asked whether he was prepared to resign, Akayev replied: ``Of course, of course - if I am given the relevant guarantees and if it is in full accordance with the current legislation.''

But Akayev said he lacked confidence in the guarantees already given by Kulov and Bakiyev, and saw the parliament as ``the only legitimate authority.''

Akayev fled when opposition supporters stormed government headquarters to protest disputed parliamentary elections in February and March. The opposition said the votes were rigged to fill the 75-member parliament with pro-Akayev lawmakers, who it feared would extend Akayev's expiring term.

Kyrgyzstan became the third former Soviet republic in the past 18 months - after Georgia and Ukraine - where the opposition was swept to power after mass protests against long-entrenched leaders.

U.S. Ambassador Stephen Young met with Tekebayev and pledged American help to the Kyrgyz as they try to bring prosperity and real democracy to this nation of 5 million people.

``We are ready to work actively and in a friendly way with the parliament and others in the leadership in the cause of a stable, thriving and democratic Kyrgyzstan,'' Young said in Russian after the talks.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasuyk said he and his Georgian counterpart, Salome Zurabishvili, will travel to Kyrgyzstan to help officials restore stability.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, again warned against outside interference in the political affairs of former Soviet nations.

Russia has criticized Western countries and structures - including the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe - for what it says is meddling in the internal affairs of former Soviet countries. The OSCE had denounced Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections as flawed.

``Those who were trying to create problems inside Kyrgyzstan, destabilize the situation there, were referring to this OSCE assessment,'' Lavrov said in Moscow. ``I am sure that the organization itself didn't want that, and we are not accusing it of that. We are just saying that it is necessary to treat election assessments in a very responsible way.''

Kyrgyzstan hosts both U.S. and Russian military bases. It shares a border with China, has been a conduit for drugs and is a potential hotbed of Islamic extremism.

Looting and gunfire in the capital of Bishkek marred the opposition's victory last week. Kulov, named by Bakiyev to coordinate law enforcement agencies after the uprising, resigned Wednesday, saying order had been restored.

``The situation has stabilized,'' Kulov told lawmakers, according to the parliamentary press service. He also said that with the interim government fully in place, there was no need for his position.

Presidential elections have been set for June 26, but Kulov said that ``only after we get guarantees of Akayev's resignation can we start talking about elections.''

Kulov apparently has no direct say in when the elections would be held, but his position as one of Akayev's most prominent opponents gives his statements weight.

Meanwhile, lawmakers appealed to the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday to cancel a corruption conviction against Kulov.

Kulov, a former vice president and security chief, spent four years in prison on charges he said were politically motivated. He was released just hours after the seizure of the presidential administration building last week.

Political tensions and disorder were still apparent when the new legislature convened Wednesday for its first session as the undisputed parliament. The session first was delayed because many legislators showed up late. Then, four legislators walked out when a pro-Akayev lawmaker turned up to take his oath of office.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4901872,00.html