Fleeing Bakiyev insists to remain legitimate president.

LONDON, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who
had to flee bloody riots in Bishkek to the south of the country, told BBC
Russia in an interview on Thursday he remains a legitimate president and
condemned the opposition uprising.
However Bakiyev, who refused to disclose his exact location, said he
was ready to negotiate with the interim government.
"If this so-called 'temporary' government that has appointed itself is
prepared to begin negotiation talks, then I'm prepared to listen to them,"
he was quoted as saying.
But Bakiyev insisted the interim government "is completely incapable
of imposing order - and they're simply blaming the president for
everything."
In the meantime, head of the oppositional interim government and
ex-foreign minister Rosa Otunbayeva said Bakiyev's "business here is over".
She said her government is holding no talks with Bakiyev who is
staying in his home region Jalal-Abad and urged him to resign.
She said the uprising "was our answer to the repression and tyranny
against the people by the Bakiyev regime."
"You can call this revolution. You can call this a people's revolt.
Either way, it is our way of saying that we want justice and democracy,"
she said.
Otunbayeva thanked Russia for its "significant support" and said she
would be sending envoys to Moscow for talks.
In the meantime Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kazakh
counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev called for "immediate cessation of
bloodshed in Kirgizia and all forms of violence," the Kremlin press
service said quoting a telephone conversation between the two presidents.
The violent uprising has left 75 people dead and over 1000 injured.
Medvedev confirmed that Russia sent additional troops to Kirgizia "to
ensure security of Russian citizens, diplomatic and other missions."
150 paratroopers were sent to Russia's Kant military base near Bishkek.
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill called on the conflicting
parties in Kirgizia to stop violence.
"The conflicting political groups should think about horrible
consequences of chaos and violence and should return to a civilized
dialogue to eliminate the reasons that triggered the crisis," he said.
The United States said it would not take sides on the Kirgiz uprising.
State Department officials said Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev
met a top U.S. diplomat in Washington, while the U.S. charge d'affaires in
the Kyrgyz capital met opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva.
"Our message to both is the same," State Department spokesman P.J.
Crowley told a news briefing. "We will continue to urge them to resolve
this in a peaceful way."

.Kirgiz revolt is neither anti-American, nor Russia-sponsored.

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian and U.S. Presidents,
Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, discussed the situation in Kirgizia
during their meeting in Prague on Thursday and Special Assistant to Obama
Michael McFaul said the revolt was neither anti-American nor
Russia-sponsored.
"This is not some anti-American coup. That we know for sure. And
this is not a sponsored-by-the-Russian coup. There's just no evidence of
that," he told U.S. reporters.
McFaul denied rumors that Medvedev had urged Obama to close the U.S.
air base in Kirgizia.
"I was standing next to the two Presidents discussing Kyrgyzstan and
the notion that we need to close the Manas Air Base or the Manas Transit
Center was not discussed at all," he said.
McFaul said it was Medvedev who brought up the Kirgiz issue. "He
pulled the President aside; he wanted to just exchange notes and
information about what we know," McFaul said.
He stressed the United States and Russia are both interested in
stability in the Central Asian state.
"We want to monitor that the troops stay where they are; exchanged
information about what we knew about the opposition leaders and the
regime. We were thinking about cooperative measures, perhaps the OSCE,..
to deal with this crisis together," he added.
"We talked about our mutual interests and security in Kyrgyzstan,"
McFaul said.

.US Helsinki Commission supports Kirgiz interim government goals.

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Itar-Tass) -- The U.S. Helsinki Commission urged
calm in Kyrgizia and said on Thursday it supports the goals of the interim
government in the Central Asian republic.
"We support the stated goals of the interim government to reform the
constitution and electoral code and to reverse the repressive record of
the previous government," Commission Chairman and Senator Benjamin Cardin
and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee Hastings said in a statement.
"The Tulip Revolution, which brought President (Kurmanbek) Bakiyev to
power, did not produce the hoped-for results for the people of Kyrgyzstan
and was marked by corruption and human rights violations, as noted by the
U.S. State Department and many others. We hope to see a reversal of that
trend in the near future so Kyrgyzstan may become the stable democracy its
people deserve," the Commission said.
"We urge calm in Kyrgyzstan and express our condolences to families
who have lost loved ones during the last several days of unrest. We
continue to monitor events as the situation remains fluid, but it appears
that, for the second time in five years, the Kyrgyz government has fallen
to protesters," the Commission said.
"All involved should resolve the current crisis peacefully, without
further violence and with respect for the rule of law. The looting should
stop immediately," it urged.
The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as
the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the Federal
Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords.
-0-nec


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