World in brief: Deposed president won’t step down

TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president on Sunday defended the legitimacy of his rule and urged the United Nations to send peacekeepers to help stabilize the strategically vital Central Asian nation.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told the Associated Press in an interview that he had not ordered police to fire at protesters in the capital.

Bakiyev fled the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday after a protest rally exploded into police gunfire and chaos that left at least 81 people dead and sparked protesters to storm the government headquarters.

Bakiyev denounced the protest as a “coup” and angrily rejected the self-proclaimed interim government’s demand to step down.

The stalemate has left Kyrgyzstan’s near-term stability in doubt, a worry for the West because the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan is a crucial element in the international military campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The head of the interim government, Roza Otunbayeva, said Sunday that Bakiyev must face trial, rescinding an earlier offer of security guarantees for him.

Protesters carry coffins through city

BANGKOK, Thailand – Anti-government protesters paraded coffins through the Thai capital today following a weekend of savage street fighting that killed 21 and left fears of further violence unless the activists and government reach a political compromise.

At least 874 others were injured when security forces tried to crack down Saturday on demonstrators who have been staging a month of disruptive protests in the Thai capital, seeking to have Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call new elections.

Today, protesters launched a motorized procession with 14 empty coffins that was to follow a long loop through the Thai capital.

Both sides accuse each other of firing battlefield weapons during the confrontation.

U.S. officials come to Karzai’s defense

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. officials went one step farther in their new gentler approach to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, expressing sympathy Sunday for the pressure he faces as commander in chief of the warring nation.

U.S.-Afghan relations grew tense earlier this month when Karzai lashed out against the U.N. and the international community, accusing them of perpetrating a “vast fraud” in last year’s presidential polls as part of a conspiracy to deny him re-election.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Karzai a reliable partner.

“I have to say that some of these outlandish claims that are being made and accusations that are being hurled are really unfortunate,” Clinton told CBS’ “Face the Nation,” aired on Sunday.