Ousted Kyrgyzstan president hints he could resign

KYRGYZSTAN: Askar Akayev, who led Kyrgyzstan for 15 years before being ousted in last week's unexpected coup, insisted yesterday that he was still the central Asian state's rightful president. However, he later hinted that, in certain conditions, he might resign.

"I am in Russia, outside Moscow," Mr Akayev told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station, denying some media reports that he was in Kazakhstan. "I have not resigned as president. I am the only elected and legitimate president of Kyrgyzstan."

Mr Akayev (60), who fled his government headquarters last Thursday after protests in southern Kyrgyzstan suddenly sparked riots in the capital, Bishkek, said he was willing to negotiate with the new parliament and its speaker, Omurbek Tekebayev. He made no direct mention of erstwhile opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the acting president and prime minister, who has outraged some supporters by accepting the legitimacy of a parliament that he had previously denounced as the product of polls rigged in favour of Mr Akayev's allies.

"In Kyrgyzstan, the only legitimate authority is the new parliament - the interim government is not legitimate," said Mr Akayev. "From the very beginning, the opposition planned to seize power, not just stage peaceful rallies." He would return to his homeland of five million people if given "personal safety guarantees" by the new parliament, which contains many of his long-time supporters. Later, asked by Russian state television if he was prepared to resign, he said: "Of course, if I am given the relevant guarantees and it fully conforms with Kyrgyz legislation."

But he put little store by offers of protection and immunity from prosecution made by Felix Kulov, an opposition stalwart who Mr Akayev jailed and demonstrators freed last week. He is Kyrgyzstan's new security chief, and has spent most of his time in office trying to curb looting and get battered policemen back on the streets after the coup.

If Mr Akayev had hoped for a sympathetic hearing from the Mr Tekebayev, however, he was to be disappointed. "Negotiations with Akayev can only be about the transfer of power," the speaker of the new parliament said shortly after the ousted president's radio appearance.

Mr Akayev admitted to getting a few things wrong in Kyrgyzstan where, after a promising start, he gradually became synonymous with cronyism and rampant corruption, and cracked down with increasing ferocity on critics of his regime.

"I made mistakes as president. There were many mistakes," he acknowledged yesterday. "But we were on the right path. Kyrgyzstan was an island of democracy in central Asia," he said, using a description of his country that the West has long since discarded.