Inmates kill visiting politician

Inmates at a prison outside the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek today shot and killed a politican who had arrived to look into prisoners’ living conditions.

At least two other people including Tynychebek Akmatbayev’s bodyguard were killed in a shootout.

Ikmatulla Polotov, the head of the Kyrgyz prison administration, was severely beaten and gravely wounded.

The guards had vacated the prison, leaving it in full control of the approximately 450 inmates, the official said.

Prime Minister Felix Kulov and Interior Minister Murat Sutalinov rushed to the Moldovanovka prison, some 15 miles north of Bishkek, near the Kazakh border, to negotiate.

Kulov held negotiations with the inmates inside the prison, his aides said, as special forces surrounded the penitentiary.

It was not clear whether he had personally negotiated or held talks over a phone or through intermediaries.