At least 75 people are thought to have died and more than 1,500 injured in the violent uprising.
Blood is on both hands...
Posted on 04/09/2010 6:35:56 AM PDT by myknowledge
Thousands massed in Kyrgyzstan's capital on Friday to honour scores of people killed in the uprising that toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev who said the new leadership had "blood on their hands".
Mourners in Bishkek's main square prayed and laid a sea of flowers at the scene of the protests as part of the official day of mourning for the dead, said to number at least 75, with more than 1,500 injured.
Fresh automatic weapon fire rang out Thursday night, adding to the tensions.
And as the first funerals took place in Bishkek and other cities, a defiant Mr Bakiyev emerged from hiding to deny he ordered security forces to open fire on protesters who stormed the presidency and government buildings.
"Those people who organised armed men to storm the White House have blood on their hands. It's the opposition whose hands are bloody," Mr Bakiyev, 60, told AFP at a house in the southern city of Jalalabad where he has taken refuge.
The ousted leader said neither Russia nor the United States, both of which maintain military facilities in the strategic Central Asian republic, played any role in the upheaval this week.
He said he had no intention of leaving Kyrgyzstan or of resigning, as the country's self-styled new leadership has demanded, but said he was ready "to sit down with the opposition at the negotiating table."
The interim government, headed by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, swiftly ruled out any talks and said that Mr Bakiyev was simply seeking to restore his five-year grip on power.
"What terms could he want to resign when more than 1,000 patriots suffered" in the violence, Ms Otunbayeva told journalists.
"We in Bishkek are trying to bring the situation under control."
In the capital, the government headquarters and presidency, wrecked by looters, remained locked up. The authorities removed burnt-out cars and vans that rioters had used as battering rams to storm the buildings.
At least 49 people were hospitalised over the past 24 hours, health ministry officials told AFP Friday, complaining that looters were impeding ambulances trying to help the injured.
The interim interior minister ordered looters to be shot on sight, after pillaging that accompanied the riots, including at Mr Bakiyev's residence where everything from radiators to plants was taken.
"Special means and gunfire were used against looters and rioters" early Friday, the ministry said, calling on families of the rioters to "persuade them off the way of crime."
The new rulers have announced plans for presidential elections in six months and the disbanding of parliament, with Otunbayeva saying a US airbase vital for sending supplies to Afghanistan would remain open.
The US embassy in Bishkek closed its doors to the public Friday and appealed for calm.
Russia, still the key player in the former Soviet republic, and the European Union have vowed to support Kyrgyzstan's interim government.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton will dispatch a special representative to Bishkek to help reach a peaceful solution to the crisis, her office said Friday.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also sending an envoy.
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has been plagued by corruption and chronic instability, with former communist functionary Mr Bakiyev coming to power in the so-called "Tulip Revolution" of 2005.
This week's uprising was the culmination of growing opposition anger fuelled by widespread fraud and irregularities in last year's presidential polls.
At least 75 people are thought to have died and more than 1,500 injured in the violent uprising.
Blood is on both hands...
And who exactly caused ‘the uprising’ and was the purpose to get the US out of their strategic base their used for Afghan operations?
Obozo will bow and leave now ... All Obozo needs is an excuse.
I think that the Russian FSB was getting tired of the current leader, and helped to guide the opposition.
The deal for the airbase was negotiated through Russia. We had to pay Russia money to get the airbase.
The graffiti on the wall at the top right says, “We the People.” Has a certain ring to it. Thanks for the post.
No. Why would the opposition needlessly sacrifice lives for such a trivial issue? To the opposition, Kurmanbek Bakiyev had to be ousted. That was their primary goal.
Maybe a shadow of things to come............
It sure wasn’t trivial to Putin ... It was his goal for years.
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