Key coup figure is appointed Kyrgyzstan leader

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.

With the crisis threatening to drag the impoverished ex-Soviet state even deeper into mayhem, the new parliament named Kurmanbek Bakiyev the man who triggered the coup by protesting against the election as prime minister.

Mr Akayev issued a statement from exile in Russia, accusing the new leaders of disgracing the country and ruining the economy.

The statement did not indicate whether Mr Akayev would resign or try to return home as he has hinted.

Mr Bakiyev's appointment also means the country finally has a leadership with some claim to legitimacy after days of confusion over who was in charge.

The new leaders had warned of the risk of civil war following Thursday's collapse of the old government in an orgy of violence and looting.

Mr Bakiyev was quick to hold out an olive branch to the new parliament whose election he had disputed and which yesterday was formally allowed to take over from the previous legislature.

"I can be reproached for saying earlier that the (February, March) polls were not legitimate. I said so. But in this parliament we have questions to only 15 to 20 constituencies, no one is saying that all deputies have to go."

Kyrgyzstan has set June 26 for a new presidential election, although the date still has to be confirmed.

Mr Bakiyev is almost certain to stand.

Kyrgyzstan's new leaders mostly top officials at one time during Mr Akayev's rule dismissed widespread suggestions they were already squabbling.

"We have no difference of opinion. It's just a misunderstanding," said popular opposition leader Felix Kulov when asked about reports of conflict with Mr Bakiyev.

Mr Kulov, freed from jail by protesters during Thursday's mass protests that brought down Mr Akayev, is now one of the most powerful men in Kyrgyzstan, with control over the security forces.

The new government won a helping hand from Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday when he promised to get emergency aid to Moscow's ex-Soviet ally which says it desperately needs food and fuel.

The constitutional crisis has stoked tension in the mainly Muslim state of five million where mass looting broke out after the coup.

"The rule of the Kalashnikov (rifle)" would take over in the country if the crisis was unresolved, the speaker of the new parliament Omurbek Tekebayev said.

Mr Bakiyev's supporters said at the weekend that a plot to kill him had been uncovered.

The new legislature, discredited though it is by the disputed election, assumed authority yesterday.