Bishkek, April 12: Deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was set to address a rally in his home village on Monday to drum up popular support against the self-proclaimed government that has taken power in the capital.
Speaking to reporters before the rally, Bakiyev said he had spoken to an envoy from the United Nations to ask for peacekeepers to be sent to keep the peace.
“I…expressed a request for the United Nations to introduce its peacekeeping forces in the north of the republic to prevent and further escalation of the situation there,” Bakiyev said outside a traditional yurt.
Bakiyev fled Bishkek to his stronghold in the south on April 7 after troops fired on protesters outside his offices, killing at least 81 people. The interim government says he must step down or possibly face arrest.
Holed up in his home village of Teyyit outside the city of Jalalabad, Bakiyev told Reuters on Sunday that any attempt to kill him would “drown Kyrgyzstan in blood”.
Bakiyev’s defiance has threatened to further destabilise the volatile Muslim nation where the United States operates a key military air base supporting operations in nearby Afghanistan.
At the village, supporters began to gather for the rally.
“We expect many people to turn up from all parts of the south,” said Esenbai, a 37-year-old local vigilante.
There was no heavy security presence and the situation appeared calm. Groups of men helping arrange the rally hid from a cold rain in a large hut, eating spiced rice and meat and sipping steaming hot tea.
“When the president speaks today it’s going to be a real festival and plov (meat and rice dish) will be served to everyone for free,” said one villager.
Unrest is no surprise for many Kyrgyz people, their memories still fresh of a revolt in 2005 which brought Bakiyev to power on promises to bring democracy and justice.
The new government, led by Bakiyev’s one-time allies, says it would not use force against Bakiyev but suggested it may act to arrest him and try for the deaths.
Zhanybek, Bakiyev’s brother and security chief, was quoted as saying on Sunday that it was he who had ordered guards to shoot at stone-throwing protesters during the clashes.
Bakiyev has urged U.N. peacekeeping to intervene to prevent “continuing chaos” in Kyrgyzstan.
The self-proclaimed government has said Russia is its key ally and some leading ministers have said the U.S. lease on the base could be shortened, raising speculation that Moscow could try to use the base as a lever in relations with Washington.
Pentagon officials say Manas is key to the war against the Taliban, allowing round-the-clock flights in and out of Afghanistan. About 50,000 troops passed through it last month.
——Agencies