Kyrgyzstan calms after pro-president rioting

Kyrgyzstan’s restive south calmed down today after a failed attempt to take control by supporters of the nation’s deposed president in which one person died and dozens were wounded.

Jalal-Abad regional governor Bektur Asanov insisted that supporters of the interim government are firmly in control of the city after two days of riots - the worst violence since last month’s forcible government change.

Mr Asanov spoke as labourers worked to clear up the aftermath of the seizure of the regional government building. He vowed there will be no repetition of the violence that raised doubts about the new authority’s ability to control the south, where support for former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev still runs strong.

“I think this attempt to seize power that was made the day before yesterday was the last attempt to destabilise the situation made by destructive forces led by Bakiyev’s brothers,” Mr Asanov said.

“The people showed their force and nobody will be able to do this again in the future.”

Several hundred Bakiyev supporters, some with automatic rifles, holed up in the regional government building after capturing it on Thursday. Backers of the interim government drove them out on Friday after exchanging gunshots, hurling stones and fighting with sticks.

The health ministry said that one person was killed and more than 60 injured in the violence. Mr Asanov said most casualties were among interim government supporters.

The government’s backers also ejected a pro-Bakiyev crowd from the regional government offices in Osh, the country’s second-largest city, about 45 miles from Jalal-Abad. The two sides threw rocks at one another, but no serious injuries were reported there.

Both cities are in southern Kyrgyzstan, the power base for Mr Bakiyev, who was ousted on April 7 amid clashes between government forces and protesters that left at least 85 people dead in the capital, Bishkek.

The prospect of further disturbances in Kyrgyzstan worries Washington and Moscow, which both have military bases in the Central Asian nation.

The US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan has voiced concern about the unrest and urged parties to refrain from violence, while the Kremlin sent former Russian Security Council secretary Vladimir Rushailo as a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan on Friday.