Opposition leaders say they have seized power after protesters storm government buildings and police fire on demonstrators
By Alex Rodriguez
Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan
The small, mountainous Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, a vital conduit for supplies to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, plunged into chaos Wednesday as thousands of protesters ransacked government buildings and riot police fired on crowds, killing dozens of people.
The unrest left the fate of the government of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in doubt. Bakiyev has led the country since 2005 when he headed the so-called Tulip Revolution that deposed autocratic leader Askar A. Akayev. In the wake of Wednesday's violence, Bakiyev's government declared a state of emergency, even as opposition leaders claimed to have assumed power and Kyrgyzstan's border with Kazakhstan was closed.
Although officials reported that at least 40 people had been killed and 400 wounded in the violence, opposition leaders put the death toll at 100. Neither claim could be verified.
The violence was being watched closely by Washington, which uses the Manas base at the airport in the capital, Bishkek, to ferry supplies in and out of Afghanistan.
Manas is the only remaining American base in Central Asia and is considered vital to the Afghanistan war effort. Military officials said the violence had not affected operations there.
U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said the base was "functioning normally," adding that the Obama administration was urging a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Kyrgyz opposition leaders have called for closure of Manas because, they say, the base could put the country at risk if the U.S. becomes involved in a military conflict with Iran. And at least twice in recent years Bakiyev has threatened to end U.S. use of the airport, but reconsidered after negotiating larger payments.
Jeffrey Mankoff, a Central Asia specialist with the Council on Foreign Relations, said he doubted the U.S. base was in jeopardy. "My instinct is that whoever is in power would be amenable to keeping the base open," he said, "as long as the price is right."
Last year, the Obama administration agreed to increase annual rent from about $16 million to a reported $60 million.
Kyrgyz are secular Muslims, and Islamist sentiments do not appear to have played a role in the uprising. Instead, the protests apparently were driven by growing discontent over a recent 200% rise in heating fuel and electricity prices.
Demonstrations began Tuesday in the western city of Talas, where about 500 protesters seized a government building and took the local governor hostage.
On Wednesday, the unrest spread to Bishkek, where waves of angry demonstrators tried to storm the main government building known as the White House, using an armored carrier to ram its gates.
Police fired on demonstrators on Ala-Too Square, the main plaza in front of the White House, and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds. Protesters fought back by throwing rocks and beating any police officers they were able to isolate and surround.
Demonstrators then stormed the parliament building and the state television and radio building and set ablaze the prosecutor general's office and National Security Service building. Looting broke out throughout the city as demonstrators ransacked supermarket complexes and set shops on fire. Demonstrators were also seen looting the house of one of Bakiyev's sons and setting it ablaze.
Bakiyev's whereabouts remained unclear. One opposition figure said he had flown to the southern city of Osh.
As the violence subsided, opposition leaders began negotiations with Prime Minister Daniar Usenov, demanding Bakiyev's resignation. By late Wednesday, opposition leaders had appeared on state television to tell the nation they had formed their own government.
Echo Moscow, a leading independent radio station in Russia, reported that Akayev had urged Bakiyev to step down.
Like Georgia's Rose Revolution in 2003 and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004, the popular revolt that overthrew Akayev was fueled by widespread anger over rigged elections and a thirst for democratic change.
Since then, however, many Kyrgyz in the nation of 5 million -- a third living below the poverty line -- have becoming increasingly disillusioned with Bakiyev, whom they accused of fostering the same cronyism, corruption and crackdowns on media freedoms that characterized the Akayev era.
Bakiyev, a former Soviet factory director, served as Akayev's prime minister from 2000 to 2002. Wary of alienating Akayev loyalists within the government and sparking a second revolt, Bakiyev allowed many to keep their posts. He left virtually intact the country's election commission and Supreme Court, both widely blamed for allowing the vote-rigging that led to the 2005 uprising.
The violence Tuesday and Wednesday was preceded by Bakiyev's decision to arrest 10 opposition leaders, an apparent attempt to prevent the demonstrations on Ala-Too Square that the opposition had planned for Wednesday afternoon.
However, the demonstrations went on as planned, with thousands converging on Bishkek. Elsewhere in the country, several regional governors relinquished their posts as protesters seized government buildings.
State television reported that the new opposition government is led by Roza Otunbayeva, a lawmaker and former foreign minister under Bakiyev.
Times staff writer Julian Barnes in Washington and a special correspondent in Bishkek contributed to this report. Times wire services were used in compiling this report
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