Kyrgyzstan president leaves for Russia

Embattled Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akayev and his family have left Kyrgyzstan’s capital by helicopter, heading toward Kazakhstan, the Interfax news agency reported today.

Interfax said Akayev had flown to Russia.

His exit comes as opposition "daffodil revolution" was under way in the former Soviet Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan today and protesters stormed the presidential compound in in capital, seizing control of the symbol of state power.

The crowds had clashed with riot police who had surrounded the building in the centre of Bishkek during a large opposition rally where many carried yellow daffodils to signify non-violence.

About 1,000 protesters managed to clear riot police from their positions outside the fence protecting the building, and about half that number entered the compound through the front entrance.

Others smashed windows with stones, while hundreds of police watched from outside the fence.

Protesters led the defence minister out of the building, holding him by the elbows and trying to protect him, but others threw stones at the military chief and one protester kicked him.

Interior Ministry troops led other officials out, and three injured people left in bandages, accompanied by a doctor.

Protesters, who appeared to control the building, threw papers and portraits of President Askar Akayev out of windows.

He had been due to meet an envoy from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which had made overtures to help mediate the crisis.

Two protesters waved a flag from a top-floor window in the building, and others looked out of other windows as cheers erupted from demonstrators. Some furniture was cast out of windows of the seven-story structure.

The storming of the compound was the culmination of the first major rally in the capital since opposition supporters seized control of key cities and towns in the south to underline their demands that Akayev step down amid allegations of fraud in this year’s parliamentary vote.

The rally started with about 5,000 opposition supporters moving down Bishkek’s main avenue, halting in the city’s main square adjacent to the white stone presidential and government headquarters. Protesters chanted “Akayev, go!”

Many of the demonstrators had come from a rally on the outskirts of Bishkek, where protesters roared and clapped when an opposition activist asserted that Akayev’s foes would soon control the entire Central Asian nation.

The crowd swelled as marchers reached the government headquarters, a hulking Soviet-era building set well away from the street.

Many of the demonstrators wore pink or yellow headbands signifying their loyalty to the opposition – reminiscent of the orange worn by protesters who helped bring in a new, pro-Western president in Ukraine last year.

Unlike the revolutions in Ukraine, and in Georgia in 2003, the Kyrgyz uprising does not have a central figure at its head. That raises the likelihood of a jockeying for power if Akayev were to step down.

“I am concerned that for the next two months, or maybe even for a year, there will be chaos,” said Iskander Sharshiyev, leader of the opposition Youth Movement of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan lacks the rich energy resources or pipeline routes that have made of some of its Central Asian neighbours the focus of struggles by Russia, the United States and China for regional influence.

But the former Soviet republic’s role as a conduit for drugs and a potential hotbed of Islamic extremism, particularly in the impoverished south, makes it volatile.

The crisis was sparked by the election of a predominantly pro-Akayev parliament and concerns that he might seek to stay in power beyond a presidential vote set for October.

The protests began even before the first round of parliamentary elections last month and swelled after March 13 run-offs that the opposition and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said were seriously flawed.

Akayev, 60, is prohibited from seeking another term, but the opposition has accused him of manipulating the parliamentary vote to gain a compliant legislature that would amend the constitution to allow him to stay in office. Akayev has denied that.