Protesters control buildings, airport

OSH, Kyrgyzstan – Thousands of protesters, some armed with clubs and Molotov cocktails, seized control of key government buildings and the airport in Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city Monday, prompting security officers and local officials to flee and loosening the government’s grip over a swath of this former Soviet republic.

The opposition also took control of government buildings in four other cities and towns across Kyrgyzstan’s impoverished south, Interior Ministry spokesman Nurdin Jangarayev said. Protesters burned and stomped on portraits of President Askar Akayev and seized protective shields from police. Others were seen running through the streets carrying bottles of flammable liquid.

The protests on Monday won the first concession from Akayev – an order of a probe into allegations of widespread vote-rigging in two rounds of parliamentary elections since Feb. 27. The allegations have led to demands for Akayev’s resignation and to weeks of increasingly violent protests in this central Asian republic.

The opposition has charged that Akayev, 60, who is prohibited from seeking another term, planned to manipulate the parliamentary vote to gain a compliant legislature that would amend the constitution to allow a third term. He has denied wanting another term.

Abdil Seghizbayev, an Akayev aide, vowed that security forces would not take action against the protesters, but said peace talks would only be possible after order is restored.

“Neither the authorities nor opposition leaders can control the crowd right now,” he said. “If an (opposition) leader emerges who can control the protesters, the government will be ready to talk to him.”

The capital, Bishkek, has remained calm, but the opposition vowed Monday to press on until Akayev resigned.

Roza Otunbayeva, leader of the Ata-Jurt Movement, one of the main opposition groups, and a former foreign minister, ruled out any talks with Akayev.

“We have one aim only: to oust this government … There is no need for talks anymore,” she said.

But another opposition leader, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, said talks would be possible if Akayev attended.

In Osh, many police, security forces and local officials fled the demonstrators, some of whom shouted: “Akayev, Go!” Others burned a billboard bearing Akayev’s portrait. The protesters seized the governor’s office, regional police and security stations, while about 100 others took control of Osh airport after meeting no resistance, police said.

Security officers sat on their packs at the airport in the face of protesters, awaiting evacuation.

“This is a new day in our history,” exulted Omurbek Tekebayev, an opposition official in Osh.

Another opposition member, Anvar Artykov, told the crowd: “Power in Osh has been taken over by people! … I congratulate you on our victory and urge you to maintain order.”

On Sunday, protesters in the town of Jalal-Abad burned much of the police headquarters, freed 70 detained protesters and occupied the governor’s office.

About 15,000 people demonstrated peacefully in Jalal-Abad on Monday, a local government spokesman said, and the Interior Ministry said hundreds more were rallying in at least two other towns in this nation of 5 million.

No casualties were reported Monday. Police denied media reports that four officers had been beaten to death.

Nevertheless, the opposition demonstrations forced Akayev to take action. He ordered the Central Election Commission and the Supreme Court to investigate the elections, telling them “to pay particular attention to those districts where election results provoked extreme public reaction … and tell people openly who is right and who is wrong,” said a statement from his office. “The disputes need to be solved fully and fairly.”

Protests against Akayev, who has led this mainly Muslim nation for 15 years, began after the February election and swelled after subsequent run-offs that the opposition and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said were seriously flawed.

The Kyrgyz government has denied the accusation, and Russia joined the fray Monday.

In Moscow, the Foreign Ministry condemned the protests, saying, “Extremist forces must not be allowed to use political instability to create a threat to the democratic foundations of Kyrgyz statehood.”

It also rebuked the OSCE for its critical evaluation of the elections, urging it to “be more responsible in formulating its conclusions to prevent destructive elements from using these assessments to justify their lawless actions.”