Opposition leader Bakiyev claims control

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.

Another opposition figure said that Akayev had fled to a foreign country after being turned away by Russia, and the Russian news agency Interfax reported that Akayev and his family were in neighbouring Kazakhstan.