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.

UZBEKISTAN yesterday ordered its frontier closed to a mass exodus of refugees fleeing clashes between rival groups in Kyrgyzstan where government forces were accused of helping the slaughter of ethnic Uzbeks.

Mobs of rioters slaughtered Uzbeks and burned their homes and businesses in Kyrgyzstan’s worst ethnic violence in decades, sending more than 75,000 members of the ethnic minority fleeing the country.

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.

Armed mobs torched entire districts in southern Kyrgyzstan today during ethnic clashes that left around 40 dead and over 500 wounded.

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.

OFFICIALS in Kazakhstan yesterday said the deposed president of Kyrgyzstan has left their country, where he had sought refuge in the wake of the bloody uprising in his nation.

Officials in Kazakhstan today said the deposed president of Kyrgyzstan has left their country, where he had sought refuge in the wake of the bloody uprising in his nation.

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

Gunfire broke out as the deposed Kyrgyzstan president addressed a crowd of supporters 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.

The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan today said he was willing to resign if his security was guaranteed.

KYRGYZSTAN’S ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev made his first public appearance yesterday since being toppled in a popular uprising, slamming his opponents and refusing to step down.

Thousands of grieving, angry mourners flooded the main square in the capital of Kyrgyzstan today to honour victims of the country‘s revolt – with many blaming the absent president for ordering security forces to fire on those protesting against his government.

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.

An opposition coalition in Kyrgyzstan said it formed an interim government that will rule the turbulent Central Asian nation for six months.

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.

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

Tens of thousands of angry demonstrators rallied outside the Kyrgyz president’s headquarters today, demanding he resign in a dispute over proposed political reforms that would cut his powers.

Kyrgyzstan’s president Kurmanbek Bakiyev today told parliament he would delay the introduction of constitutional reforms demanded by the opposition, just as thousands of opposition protesters gathered in the capital of the ex-Soviet Central nation, Bishkek, to demand his resignation.

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”.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld won assurances from top government officials today that American forces face no near-term deadline for withdrawing from an air base near the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek that they use to support combat and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

Kadyr Toktogulov Bishkek

More than 2,000 unarmed supporters of a presidential candidate who was denied registration in next month’s Kyrgyzstan election stormed the Kyrgyz government headquarters today.

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 Kyrgyz election contenders Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Felix Kulov have agreed to divide the spoils of the upcoming presidential election in an attempt to unite the opposition and divert Kyrgyzstan from a north-south split.

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 parliament today set June 26 as the date for elections to replace President Askar Akayev, who was ousted two days ago when demonstrators stormed government headquarters, the legislature’s press service said.

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.

Opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev emerged from the Parliament building today and said he had been named Kyrgystan’s acting leader a day after protesters drove President Askar Akayev’s government from power, unleashing widespread looting.

President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan fled the country’s capital today after protesters stormed his headquarters, seized control of state television and rampaged through government offices.