Kyrgyzstan: Police fired tear gas into crowds of anti-government demonstrators in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek yesterday, wounding six protesters.
The violence came during the sixth day of opposition protests in the central Asian republic over attempts by President Kurmanbek Bakiev to introduce a new constitution. The violence broke out after a small group of pro-government demonstrators confronted 7,000 opposition supporters on Ala-Too square outside parliament. Some opposition supporters have been camped in tents and 15 yurts (a traditional temporary dwelling) outside parliament since last week.
Police and interior ministry troops moved into the square, firing tear gas canisters and throwing stun grenades.
Murat Sutalinov, chairman of the National Security Service, said his units had cleared the square to prevent rioting and denied police had provoked clashes.
The violence is the most serious in Kyrgyzstan since the so-called Tulip Revolution in March last year, when the former president, Askar Akayev, was toppled after allegedly rigging parliamentary elections.
Mr Bakiev was elected in July last year with a promise to reform the country's laws. But the opposition For Reform movement has accused the president of backtracking, saying the new constitution, while giving parliament the right to choose the prime minister, keeps key powers inside the presidency.
President Bakiev announced last month a November 20th deadline for parliament to accept his version of the constitution, saying he will otherwise hold a referendum on the document in December in defiance of MPs' wishes.
But many lawmakers have demanded the right to amend the document.
Parliamentary speaker Marat Sultanov has condemned the document as "strengthening presidential powers". Yesterday morning, they met to begin debating changes, encouraged by supporters camped outside.
President Bakiev said there were too few MPs to form a quorum and accused them of acting to "usurp" power.
Relations between government and opposition have been tense since September, when opposition leader Omurbnek Tekebaev was arrested in Poland when drugs were found hidden in a matryoshka doll. The Polish authorities released him after two days, agreeing the drugs had been planted, and Mr Tekebaev blamed government supporters.
Unlike its bigger neighbours Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan has no oil or gas. But its strategic position, bordering China and close to Afghanistan, has seen it courted by Russia and the United States. Both countries operate air bases in Kyrgyzstan, with the US using it to supply troops in northern Afghanistan.