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.