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Ousted president quits Kyrgyzstan

15 April 2010 18:20 (UTC +04:00)

Bakiyev made the dramatic late evening exit by plane from his home stronghold of Jalalabad in south Kyrgyzstan, the first time he had quit the country since violent protests that killed 84 swept him from power last week.
"This evening Kurmanbek Bakiyev flew out of Jalalabad on a plane to Kazakhstan," a source in Kyrgyzstan’s interim government told AFP.
The Kyrgyz news agency AKI-Press reported that Bakiyev took off for Kazakhstan in a cargo plane at 1320 GMT while Russia’s ITAR-TASS said he took with him close allies including his brother and an ex-defence minister.
Ilias Omarov, spokesman for the Kazakh foreign ministry, confirmed he was headed for Kazakhstan but said he had no information about Bakiyev’s final destination.
Some reports said he was headed for the southern Kazakh city of Taraz.
The foreign minister of Kazakhstan, who currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE, a trans-Atlantic security body, said Bakiyev’s flight had been jointly arranged by Russia and the United States.
"As a result of joint efforts of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev . . . an agreement was reached with the Interim Government of Kyrgyzstan and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on his departure from the country," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev said.
Bakiyev’s departure is "an important step towards the stabilization of the situation" that would help prevent civil war in Kyrgyzstan, Saudabayev said in a statement on the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe website.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with Bakiyev Wednesday, his spokesman said, although the content of the discussion was not made public.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had this week warned that Kyrgyzstan is standing on the brink of civil war, in an apparent effort to put pressure on Bakiyev into formally resigning.
Earlier on Thursday Bakiyev had expressed his willingness to leave the country in comments reported by local Kyrgyz media.
"My next destination is now being discussed by the presidents of Russia, Kazakshtan and even the United States. Nursultan Nazarbayev personally invited me to Kazakhstan," the ousted president was quoted as saying.
Bakieyev added that he had also been offered asylum in ex-Soviet Belarus by its President Alexander Lukashenko.
"Alexander Lukashenko called me offered me asylum in Belarus, but I told him that I don’t need political asylum and am not planning to go anywhere.
"However, understanding the situation in the country, I welcome the start of negotiations and am ready to accept any offers."
Kyrgyzstan’s interim leader Roza Otunbayeva had this week demanded that Bakiyev face trial for "spilling blood" during the protests amid fears that the standoff could erupt into civil war.
Bakiyev’s departure came as Robert Blake, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs, was in Bishkek as the first senior U.S. official to visit Kyrgyzstan since the uprising.
"The United States strongly supports the efforts of the OSCE and the Kazakhstan chairman in office to find a resolution to the situation involving Mr Bakiyev," he told reporters earlier.
Washington is keen to maintain influence in Kyrgyzstan because the country hosts the Manas air base, which U.S. forces use to support military operations in nearby Afghanistan. The interim government has promised to honour past accords.
Bakiyev came to power in a popular uprising known as the Tulip Revolution in 2005, but in recent years he came under increasing criticism for authoritarianism and corruption.