Anti-govt protests sweep Kyrgyzstan, 17 said dead

[DMac]

Anti-govt protests sweep Kyrgyzstan, 17 said dead (http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx/world/0/APNews/General-World-News/20100407/U_AS-Kyrgyzstan-Protest?pageid=1)

Anti-government unrest rocked the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday as thousands of protesters stormed the main government building, set fire to the prosecutor's office and looted state TV headquarters. At least 17 people were killed and least 180 wounded in clashes, the government said.

The eruption of violence upset the relative stability of this mountainous former Soviet nation, which houses a U.S. military base that is a key supply center in the fight against the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan.

Demonstrators furious over government corruption and a recent hike in power prices looted the state television and radio building and were marching toward the Interior Ministry in the capital, Bishkek, according to Associated Press reporters on the scene. Elite police opened fire to drive crowds back from government headquarters.

Opposition activist Shamil Murat told the AP that Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongatiyev was beaten to death by a mob in the western town of Talas where the unrest erupted a day ago. The respected Fergana.ru Web site reported later that Kongatiyev was badly beaten but had not died, saying its own reporter had witnessed the beating.

(article continues at link)

[Festina Lente]

Demonstrators furious over government corruption and a recent hike in power prices



Once the entertainment is cut off, there is no doubt in my mind that we will see this happen here. :-\

[DMac]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSfnax1yWMQ

[mick silver]

and i bet not ONE WORD of this will be on the news in the good old usa

[MarketNeutral]

Kyrgyzstan government ousted in violent revolt

Opponents of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev took control Wednesday of Kyrgyzstan after a day of spectacular violence that ended with Bakiyev fleeing the capital of the strategic Central Asian state.

Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed a provisional government with former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva at its head.

A worker at Bishkek's international airport told AFP that the 60-year-old Bakiyev had fled the capital aboard a small plane as his opponents consolidated their grip on key national institutions.

Opposition leader Temir Sariyev said on Kyrgyz radio that Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov had signed a letter of resignation and Otunbayeva vowed that the new leadership in the country would move quickly to normalize the situation.

"Power is now in the hands of the people's government," Otunbayeva said in an address on state radio.

"Responsible people have been appointed and are already working to normalize the situation."

The fast-moving events in Kyrgyzstan capped a day of ferocious clashes in Bishkek and other cities that quickly turned into a nationwide revolt against Bakiyev that was believed to have left scores dead.

As unrest swept the Central Asian republic, the opposition took control of the national television, the prosecutors' office was set alight and state media reported that a deputy prime minister was held hostage in the remote northwest.

The riots were the culmination of spiralling protests in the Central Asian nation with the opposition demanding Bakiyev's resignation and accusing his government of rights violations, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement. Profile: Kyrgyz President Bakiyev

Despite briefly arresting three leading opposition figures and declaring a state of emergency, the authorities failed to prevent the rebels from rapidly taking control of some of the main levers of power.

A health ministry official said 47 people had died, many from gunshot wounds, and more than 400 were injured. Officials said that the toll could be expected to rise.

Opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev said separately that more than 100 people had been killed in the violence.

The United States, which maintains an air base in Kyrgyzstan used in the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan, voiced "deep concern", while Russia also appealed for calm in the former Soviet republic.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow had no involvement in unrest in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan.

"Neither Russia nor your humble servant (Putin) have any links" to the events in Kyrgyzstan, Putin told reporters during a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Smolensk, western Russia.

"At the same time, when (Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek) Bakiyev came to power a few years ago, he severely criticised (former president Askar) Akayev for nepotism, that only his family held power. I have the impression that Mr. Bakiyev is now stepping on the same rake," Putin said.

Prior to seizing the presidential offices, opposition protesters laid siege to both the national parliament and the offices of the government, demanding that Bakiyev quit.

An AFP journalist meanwhile saw flames coming from the ground floor of the four-storey prosecutors' office.

Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades in repeated bids to disperse the demonstrators and Usenov declared a state of emergency, but all to little effect.

A police source and a witness said Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev had been killed in the northwest hub of Talas where the first protests erupted.

Kongantiyev was attacked by protestors who had also taken deputy prime minister Akylbek Zhaparov captive, the Kabar Kyrgyz state news agency reported.

An interior ministry spokesman, Rakhmatullo Akhmedov, later said Kongantiyev was alive but admitted the government had little information on the situation in Talas, saying it was "checking" reports the minister was taken hostage.

In Bishkek, explosions from stun grenades reverberated across the city and the crackle of automatic weapons fire filled the air as protesters in the main square gasped for breath in a fog of tear gas. Scene: Blood, explosions in violent Bishkek tableau

Witnesses said security forces had fired live bullets into the air as between 3,000 and 5,000 protestors overturned cars and set them on fire in Bishkek.

Protestors appeared to have seized several heavily armoured police vehicles and were standing on them waving red Kyrgyz flags and the blue flag of the opposition movement.

Looters also ransacked the home of Bakiyev's family, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

The violence came a day after more than 1,000 opposition protesters burst through police lines and took control of government offices in Talas.

And in the central city of Naryn, hundreds of opposition protesters on Wednesday stormed the regional government headquarters after the local governor refused to negotiate.

Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous country perched at the strategic junction between China, Russia and southwest Asia, is among the poorest countries to have emerged from the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

It has been plagued by corruption and chronic instability and the troubles resemble widespread unrest that washed over the country in March 2005 and resulted in the ouster of president Askar Akayev. Timeline: Kyrgyzstan since independence
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Kyrgyzstan-government-ousted-in-violent-revolt/articleshow/5772115.cms

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/kyrgyz_04_07/k01_22915803.jpg
Riot police are attacked by anti-government protesters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on April 7, 2010.


http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/kyrgyz_04_07/k02_22903519.jpg

Opposition supporters burn a billboard displaying Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev during a rally in the northwestern town of Talas on April 6, 2010. Kyrgyz protesters demonstrating against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev stormed a government office in the northwestern town of Talas on Tuesday and there were conflicting reports on the fate of the regional governor.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/kyrgyz_04_07/k03_22916649.jpg
A Kyrgyz opposition member throws a projectile at riot police during an anti-government protest in Bishkek on April 7, 2010.

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An unidentified man fires an automatic weapon near the main government building in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday, April 7, 2010.


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Protesters try to take a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) from a riot policeman during clashes in Bishkek April 7, 2010

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http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/kyrgyz_04_07/k25_22915841.jpg
The mob beats two captured police men.

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Police flee.

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/kyrgyz_04_07/k33_22916175.jpg

[Down1]

Nice pics !
Thanks!
Looks like some heavy skirmishing between the people and the police occurred.

[Ironfield]

These riot police had all the neat toys gear most other nations use yet still caved under pressure of a seriously disgruntled adversary. They seem to be falling over themselves as they try to flee, rather comical in my opinion.

As this event develops further be interesting to see the international community’s reaction.

-Ironfield

[Rebel Yarr]

Hell yeah - awesome pics - thank those freedom fighters! Hopefully they get the changes they are dying for.

[Ares]

Most of that mob wasn't armed. The American police state would shit themselves if a mob that size formed here and were carrying weapons.

[Hermie]

The video of this has to keep circulating.
The US media will not show it because they won't want our citizens to get any ideas.
Seeing the riot troops being pushed back and fleeing might free some minds.
It should be seen as much as possible.

As JJ.G0ldD0t said in another thread, "This is the Tree of Liberty being watered."

.