Kyrgyz government forces swept into an ethnic Uzbek village today, beating men and women with rifle butts in an assault that left at least two dead and more than 20 wounded, witnesses said.

Kyrgyzstan’s weak military was trying to regain control of the city of Osh, a major transit point for Afghan heroin and the epicentre of ethnic violence that has driven much of the Uzbek population from the country’s poor, rural south.

Heavy arms fire rang out over the Kyrgyz city of Osh today as authorities struggled to bring order to the Central Asian country’s south after days of deadly ethnic riots.

RIOTING has killed several hundred people in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, the Red Cross said yesterday, as new reports strengthened suspicions that the violence was deliberately ignited to undermine the interim government.

Several hundred people have been killed in rioting in Kyrgyzstan, the Red Cross said today, as new reports strengthened suspicions that the violence was deliberately ignited to undermine the Central Asian nation’s interim government.

Germany has evacuated 89 westerners, including 31 Americans and 40 Europeans, from the violence-torn city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan.

KYRGYZ mobs burned Uzbek villages, slaughtered their residents and looted police stations yesterday in the worst ethnic rioting this Central Asian nation has seen in 20 years, sending more than 75,000 Uzbek refugees fleeing across the border into Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyzstan’s restive south calmed down today after a failed attempt to take control by supporters of the nation’s deposed president in which one person died and dozens were wounded.

Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev quit the country for neighbouring Kazakhstan today.

The head of Kyrgyzstan’s interim government said today talks with the its deposed president were possible, but prospects for a compromise were clouded by mutual distrust and threats to use force.

Opposition leaders moved to consolidate their control over Kyrgyzstan after their victory in a bloody uprising, saying they would hold power for six months and assuring the US it can keep a strategic air base here – at least for now.

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.

The decision to close a key US air force base on the borders of Afghanistan is final, Kyrgyzstan said today.

Kyrgyzstan’s government today rejected a move by opposition politicians to pass a new constitution, calling it an attempt to seize power illegally.

Top Kyrgyzstan officials today alleged the opposition, which has declared a non-stop anti-government rally in the capital, had planned a coup.

KYRGYZSTAN’S new president has said the Central Asian country will pursue an independent foreign policy, and will not be “a place for the fulfilment of someone else’s geopolitical interests”.

Kyrgyzstan has forced scores of refugees who fled Uzbekistan after it exploded in unrest to return despite fears they could face cruel treatment, a Kyrgyz official said today, as other refugees vowed to go home voluntarily to demand their government’s removal.

A Kyrgyzstan advisory council began drafting reforms to the Central Asian nation’s constitution today, aiming to curb presidential authority and grant parliament more power in the wake of last month’s dramatic revolt.

The upper house of Kyrgyzstan’s old parliament announced today that it will dissolve and end its struggle against a newly elected rival legislature, in a bid to bring stability after last week’s ouster of President Askar Akayev.

KYRGYZSTAN’S new authorities, struggling to end chaos after last week’s coup, yesterday appointed as the Central Asian country’s leader a key figure behind the overthrow of veteran President Askar Akayev.

President Askar Akayev, who fled the small former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan last week after protesters stormed his offices and brought down his government, is in talks with interim leaders seeking his resignation, Kyrgyzstan’s acting prosecutor-general said today.

One of two rival parliaments vying for authority in Kyrgyzstan approved interim leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev as prime minister today, boosting his legitimacy in the wake of the former government’s ousting last week.

Kyrgyzstan’s interim prime minister chose his key officials as the new leadership moved quickly to try to quell widespread disorder and looting following the overthrow of the president.

KYRGYZSTAN’S interim prime minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev chose his key officials today as the new leadership moved quickly to try to quell widespread disorder and looting following the overthrow of the president.

Thousands of people stormed three government buildings in Kyrgyzstan today, forcing security forces to flee, in the latest in a wave of protests to demand the resignation of Soviet-era President Askar Akayev.