http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10978
Kyrgyz protesters seize govt buildings ISN ISN SECURITY WATCH 21/03/05) - Thousands of protesters seized seven government buildings in the southern Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad on Monday, forcing security forces to flee in the latest in a wave of mass protests demanding the resignation of President Askar Akaev. The opposition has launched similar protests in at least eight other cities and towns over the past few weeks, but the situation in the north, where the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, is located, has remained quiet. In clashes on Sunday, at least four policemen were reportedly beaten to death after the police had fired shots but failed to stop the demonstrations. Opposition figures said six protesters had been wounded in the clashes. Protesters also blocked roads with piles of rocks to prevent government troops from advancing towards the seized buildings, news agencies reported. The leader of the opposition People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, told news agencies that the situation in Jalal-Abad region was "explosive". "The situation is changing rapidly and gradually, and people are becoming uncontrollable. It is alarming," he told a press conference in Bishkek, calling on police to refrain from using force against the protesters. Protesters had first stormed government buildings in Osh on Friday, but were pushed back by security forces and then retook the buildings on Monday, according to Reuters. As the number of protesters continued to swell, reaching around 2'000 on Monday, the demonstrators grew bolder and overran the regional police and security stations in Osh, which had already been evacuated by police. Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev said the government was ready to talk to the protesters, and promised that force would not be used. "Neither the president, nor myself, nor the interior minister will allow weapons to be used against our own people," he said in a statement. But the government does have a history of using force against protesters. Three years ago, Kyrgyz police shot dead several demonstrators. Hundreds of people were also killed in inter-ethnic violence in 1990. President Akaev's supporters won a landslide victory in 27 February parliamentary elections and 13 March runoffs. The president's son and daughter both won seats in the recent election. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the US have criticized both rounds of voting as undemocratic, citing incidents of vote-buying, abuse of state media, and the dubious disqualifying of opposition candidates. The opposition has refused to accept the election results and accused the authorities of fraud, demanding Akaev's resignation, while Akaev accuses the opposition of provoking a civil war. The president has warned the public that he would not allow a revolution of the sort that ousted strongmen from power in Ukraine and Georgia. Akaev has served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution, and opposition figures say he plans to use his majority in parliament to change the law and run for a third term in October elections. A ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
