Protesters topple government, president flees

Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev was reported to have fled the country on Thursday after thousands of opposition protesters took control of the capital, Bishkek, following a day of unprecedented disturbances. The Russian Interfax news agency reported Akayev was in northern Kazakhstan together with his family. Leading opposition figure, Felix Kulov, said that Akayev had wanted to go to Russia but was rejected. "He had a chance to resign, but he fled," Kulov, who was released from prison as Akayev's government was toppled, said in televised comments. "He wanted to go Russia, but the Russians didn't accept him, and he is now in some other country.'' There were reports of sporadic violence between riot police and protesters throughout the day, but fears that security forces would resort to firearms to quell the protests proved groundless. "We knew that law enforcement agencies could use force against us protesters, but we did all we could to avoid any bloodshed, Kurmanbek Bakiev, another opposition leader, told IRIN from inside the interior ministry, that had been stormed by protesters earlier. An estimated 10,000 protesters, many sporting pink or yellow bandanas - the hastily adopted colours of the protest movement - were energised and largely led by southerners fresh from the fight with provincial authorities in cities like Osh and Jalal-Abad. "We arrived in Bishkek yesterday. The police initially would not let us into the city but we managed to get through. My friends and I took part in the storming of the Jalal-Abad provincial administration building [in the south] and we came to Bishkek to participate in taking over the White House [government seat] in Bishkek. Now nobody can stop opposition leaders and the protesters. We have got nothing to lose," Urazbek, a protester from Jalal-Abad, told IRIN. The demonstrators, armed with rocks, clubs and shields taken from bemused riot police, stormed the Soviet-era structure housing the government and presidency and took over the main television station. Thursday's developments were a dramatic escalation of mounting protests over a disputed March 13 parliamentary election that had until now largely been in the volatile south of the country. The protesters were in a jubilant mood as darkness fell on the capital. "Today is a great day for our country - the greatest since our independence. I am a teacher and have two university diplomas, but currently I do not work at school because the salary there is very low. I sell things in the bazaar," Almagul, a resident of Bishkek who took part in the storming of the main government building, told IRIN. In Moscow, the foreign ministry said the events were "a cause for serious concern" and appealed for a return "onto a lawful path." In the past three years Russia has witnessed peaceful revolutions both in Georgia and Ukraine, which like Kyrgyzstan were also part of the former Soviet Union. Local residents, many of whom support the government, were concerned the power vacuum in the capital would lead to widespread criminality. There were reports of looting in Bishkek as dusk fell. "Everything that happened today in the capital is illegal and I fear that there might be further escalation of violence. But most of all I am afraid of looting and that people who came from the provinces might start looting the shops and homes of Bishkek residents," Igor, a waiter at a central cafe, told IRIN. The opposition takeover in the capital was repeated in the southwestern city of Batken, where a witness told the AFP news agency that hundreds of opposition supporters broke through police lines and took over a government building. It was the third regional capital in the nation's impoverished south where government buildings have been overrun in protests over the election 11 days ago, when the opposition's presence in the 75-member parliament was all but wiped out.