THE president of Kyrgyzstan declared from hiding last night that he would not surrender to a violent uprising that put the opposition in control of much of the country, home to a US air base key to the war in nearby Afghanistan.

ANTI-GOVERNMENT unrest rocked the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan yesterday as thousands of protesters stormed the main government building, set fire to the prosecutor’s office and looted state TV headquarters.

At least four people died when police opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the capital of Kyrgyzstan today.

SINCE Georgia’s November 2003 Rose Revolution against Eduard Schvardnadze’s government, a series of other former Soviet governments have fallen after popular revolutions, often with the backing of the US and other Western nations.