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Kyrgyzstan protesters storm palace, force president to flee

An interim government is put in place as the nation becomes the third former Soviet republic in 16 months to undergo regime change.

By wire services
Published March 25, 2005

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Racing past cordons of police and soldiers who offered little resistance, thousands of demonstrators stormed the governmental palace in this impoverished, mountainous Central Asian nation Thursday, forcing the president to flee out a side door as protesters looted his offices and clamored for a new government.

Within three hours, an orderly rally by Kyrgyz citizens opposed to President Askar Akayev blossomed into a jubilant revolution with Akayev's headquarters as its epicenter. Demonstrators streamed up seven flights of stairs to the president's wood-paneled office, where they took turns sitting in his chair and rifled his desk drawers.

By late afternoon, it seemed the president had fled the country of 5-million. The upper house of Parliament met Thursday night and chose former opposition lawmaker Ishenbai Kadyrbekov as interim president until a new election, perhaps as early as May.

Two prominent opposition leaders, Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Felix Kulov, were named to top posts in an interim government, lawmakers said. The lower house of Parliament early today appointed Bakiyev acting prime minister, and the upper house tapped Kulov, who was released from prison Thursday, to take charge of all law enforcement agencies.

The uprising set the stage for Kyrgyzstan to become the third former Soviet republic in 16 months to undergo regime change as a result of popular uprisings against rigged or flawed elections.

While the sudden revolt did not follow the script of Georgia's Rose Revolution ouster of Eduard Shevardnadze in 2003 or the Orange Revolution that lifted Viktor Yushchenko into Ukraine's presidency late last year, it shared a common element: a military and government that recoiled from moving against its own people.

Soldiers in the building's lobby were armed but had been ordered by Akayev to not shoot protesters, a presidential aide told the protesters. With demonstrators filling the halls and ransacking virtually every office they came upon, Kyrgyzstan's military leadership saw no other choice but to leave.

Outside the huge, Soviet-era building known to Kyrgyz people as "the White House," a sea of demonstrators lingered for hours to savor the moment. Some leapt onto the military's abandoned armored personnel carriers to hug fellow protesters; others gleefully yelped as they wandered about the plaza, carrying looted computers, telephones, vases and books.

Akayev's whereabouts was uncertain early today. The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Akayev and his family had flown to neighboring Kazakhstan. But a Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman told Interfax the ministry could not confirm that Akayev and his family had sought refuge in Kazakhstan.

Another Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported that Akayev had formally resigned, but that could not be confirmed. U.S. officials said they could not confirm reports that Akayev had left the country.

Kyrgyzstan's opposition began calling for Akayev's resignation after the country's Feb. 27 and March 13 Parliament elections, won overwhelmingly by Akayev's allies. International observers said both elections were tainted by vote-buying, media bias for pro-Akayev candidates and the improper removal of opposition candidates from ballots.

Demonstrations gathered steam in the poverty-stricken southern cities of Jalal-Abad and Osh, where protesters seized police headquarters and other government buildings, and had claimed control over those regions. The takeover began with a rally Thursday morning on the outskirts of Bishkek, where about 5,000 protesters roared and clapped when Bakiyev said they soon would control the entire country.

About 1,000 people surged toward the building housing Akayev's offices, meeting little resistance from helmeted riot police.

Neighboring regimes in Central Asia ignored Thursday's uprising, but their opposition parties were jubilant, hoping the seeds of democratic change had been sown in the region.

There was no sign the new leadership would change policy toward the West or Russia. Unlike the revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, foreign policy has not been an issue.

Both the United States and Russia have military bases near Bishkek. About 1,000 U.S. troops are stationed at Manas air base outside the capital. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday he didn't believe they would be adversely affected by the turmoil.

Information from the Chicago Tribune and Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified March 25, 2005, 01:01:16]