From ABC 7 News: Semblance of Calm Returns to Kyrgyzstan Location: BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan Posted: March 26, 2005 7:28 AM EST URL: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0305/216231.html
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) - A semblance of calm returned to Kyrgyzstan's capital Saturday after two nights of looting and sporadic gunfire that followed the ouster of longtime President Askar Akayev, while rival lawmakers struggled for legitimacy in the wake of the opposition takeover. Iskander Shamshiyev, an opposition leader whose organization has been working with police to restore order, said three looters were killed overnight and there were a number of clashes. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Nurdin Jangarayev, made no mention of bloodshed. "Everything was normal last night - better than the previous night. We were working with volunteers all night. We have calmed the people down," he said. The parliament set June 26 as the date for elections to replace Akayev, the Interfax news agency reported. It was not immediately clear whether elections would also be called for parliament. Akayev apparently has not resigned and the technical legitimacy of the new leaders in power in Kyrgyzstan remained unclear, as did the ousted leader's whereabouts. The Interfax news agency, citing unspecified sources, said he had arrived in Russia from Kazakhstan Friday night. The Kremlin press service, the Foreign Ministry and the Kyrgyz Embassy all declined comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said on Friday that Russia would not object if Akayev wanted to come to the country. Overnight Saturday, hundreds of youths roamed the streets of the capital, wielding sticks and throwing stones at cars. Helmeted police in bulletproof vests chased the rowdy crowds and fired shots in the air, and volunteers urged out by the interim government helped police in their quest to restore order - a major test of the former opposition leaders now in charge. The city quieted as night drew on, a cold rain helping to deter crowds, though gutted shopping centers and looted stores stood in the morning as signs of the mayhem that marred celebrations of the stunningly swift change of power. Two competing national legislatures were jockeying for authority Saturday. In the parliament building, members of the newly restored legislature - lawmakers who served before disputed February and March elections that led to the protests that brought down the government - met in one room, while politicians elected in the recent voting gathered in another. The Supreme Court has invalidated the recent elections, which the opposition said was marred by fraud. But the winners challenged the authority of the restored parliament. "Our opinion is that we should be the legitimate lawmakers, because the people have chosen us," one winner, Roman Shin, said. He said the former lawmakers who have returned to parliament "don't want to abandon power." "The revolution was made by 5,000 people," Shin said, referring to the swelling crowd that gathered outside the presidential and government headquarters Thursday before some of its members stormed the building and took it over. He said the recently elected lawmakers "could gather at least 25,000," but added that they had no plans to call in crowds to challenge the parliament or interim government. "Nobody should bring people out on the streets for personal ambitions." The lawmakers from the restored previous parliament's upper house elected Muratbek Mukashev, a commercial bank chairman who had served in the previous parliament and defeated a pro-government candidate in the disputed recent election, as speaker. They also discussed the possibility of legitimizing interim leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev's position by making him prime minister, instead of just acting prime minister. Lawmakers on Friday named Bakiyev acting prime minister and acting president, but there were questions of whether the constitution allows an acting prime minister to take over the helm of the country when the president cannot fulfill his duties. The fall of Akayev's government came swiftly Thursday after weeks of intensifying protests in the south, propelled by widespread anger over the parliamentary elections. A swelling crowd in Bishkek marched to the central square, and hundreds stormed the government headquarters, overcoming riot police who put up little resistance. Opposition supporters celebrated, waving flags from the windows and taking turns in Akayev's chair, but also ransacked the building before order as imposed. Bakiyev chose mostly prominent opposition figures for the posts of acting foreign, defense and finance ministers and chief prosecutor. Bakiyev also signed an order appointing other ministers and new governors of the northern Chui and the southern Osh and Jalal-Abad regions, which were the epicenter of anti-Akayev protests. Bakiyev and other opposition leaders said that Akayev had fled the country but they did not know where he was. Akayev's wife, Mairam, confirmed that her husband fled Bishkek as protesters began to storm the government building, Russia's Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. The paper, which did not say where she was, quoted her as saying that Akayev left "by agreement with the European community," but she did not elaborate. "We are safe, but the country is dying," she said. Akayev's departure made Kyrgyzstan the third former Soviet republic in the past 18 months - after Georgia and Ukraine - to see protests bring down long-entrenched leaders widely accused of corruption. The 60-year-old Akayev had led Kyrgyzstan since 1990, before it gained independence in the Soviet collapse. The U.S. State Department said Friday that the Bush administration would work jointly with Russia to promote a "sense of order" in Kyrgyzstan. Spokesman Adam Ereli said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and they agreed on the importance of the rule of law, nonviolence and the support of the international community." Kyrgyzstan has been a conduit for drugs and a potential hotbed of Islamic extremism, particularly in the impoverished south. There was no indication, however, that the opposition would be more amenable to Islamic fundamentalist influence than Akayev's government has been, or that its foreign policy would change significantly. Written By KADYR TOKTOGULOV TM & ©2005 WJLA/NewsChannel 8, a division of Allbritton Communications Company Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press... 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