BISHKEK – Deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev formally resigned in a handwritten letter sent to Kyrgyzstan’s new leaders yesterday, allaying fears of civil war in the strategic Central Asian country.
Mr Bakiyev fled to neighbouring Kazakhstan on Thursday, ending days of turmoil that disrupted US military flights through a Kyrgyz air base to Afghanistan.
The crisis has underlined rivalries between the United States and Russia for influence in Central Asia, a vast region between China, Afghanistan and the Caspian Sea.
The interim government, led by Roza Otunbayeva, said Mr Bakiyev had faxed his resignation letter overnight from Kazakhstan.
“I tender my resignation in these tragic days as I understand the full scale of my responsibility for the future of the Kyrgyz people,” Mr Bakiyev wrote.
Ms Otunbayeva’s chief of staff, Edil Baisalov, later presented the original, written in large, jagged letters, to reporters and said it was delivered to the interim government by Kazakhstan’s ambassador in Bishkek.
Mr Bakiyev’s departure has sharply reduced tensions in the impoverished former Soviet republic after a violent uprising against his five-year rule raised the spectre of civil war.
Ms Otunbayeva said the interim government would work on creating a parliamentary democracy.
“We agreed on a parliamentary republic system and now we have a working group which is drafting a constitution,” Ms Otunbayeva told reporters in Washington and other cities via teleconference from Bishkek.
The former foreign minister said it was too early to say whether she would run for president in polls expected in six months.
Mr Bakiyev is believed to be in the Kazakh city of Taraz with his wife and two children. Russian media say he could fly on to Turkey or Latvia.
At least 84 people were killed in the uprising last week when a protest against Mr Bakiyev’s rule erupted into a night of gunfire and looting in the Kyrgyz capital. Troops loyal to Mr Bakiyev shot into a crowd of thousands of demonstrators.
Addressing the nation in a live televised statement, Ms Otunbayeva said Mr Bakiyev must stand trial over the events, saying: “Retribution is unavoidable. Justice will prevail.” – (Reuters)