Too early to discuss Bakiyev`s extradition - Belarussian prosecutor.

MINSK, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - The Belarussian Prosecutor General's Office
believes it is premature to speak about any legal action related to a
possible request from Bishkek for the extradition of Kyrgyzstan's ousted
president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the head of the PR Department of Belarus'
Prosecutor General's Office, Pyotr Kiselyov, said on Wednesday.
"The Prosecutor General's Office has not received an extradition
request yet," he said. "Without seeing the request it is premature to
speak about any action by the Prosecutor General's Office."
In an interview to Reuters Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko
said that "such an appeal would be hopeless and humiliating for the
interim government. The president of Kyrgyzstan is under the protection of
the Belarussian state and its president."
Some legal experts doubt that an extradition request may be expected
in Minsk within a few days or weeks, even though back on May, 4 the head
of Kyrgyzstan's new government, Roza Otunbayeva, signed a decree to strip
Bakiyev of his status of the head of the country and of immunity and
ordered the law enforcers to secure his extradition to Kyrgyzstan.
Legal experts explain that an extradition request should comply with
the official procedures under the Minsk CIS Convention on legal assistance
and legal relations on civil, family and criminal cases of January 22,
1993. The document says that an extradition request should contain "a
detailed description of the criminal offence" and "information about the
losses caused by the crime." In view of the "very specific relations"
between Minsk and Bishkek today, it is clear that this detailed
information should be very precise and proved by documents and evidence,
which may take weeks and even months to prepare.
It looks like Bishkek is neither underestimating nor exaggerating the
complexity of the situation. The head of the Kyrgyz interim government's
staff, Edil Baisalov, is quoted by media as saying that "we understand the
delicacy of the situation for the leaders of Belarus."
"We do not want to quarrel with Belarus over Kurmanbek Bakiyev," he
said. "But we are convinced that as the international commission presents
its incrimination, Belarus, a founder of the UN and our close ally, will
be unable to keep a criminal under its protection any longer," Baisalov
said.

-0-kar/gor