Kyrgyzstan's deposed president gathers supporters

[April 20, 2010]  TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan (AP) -- Kyrgyzstan's deposed president on Monday rallied supporters in his home village, testing his ability to mount resistance to the opposition forces that drove him out of the capital last week.

As about 500 people gathered in a muddy field in Kurmanbek Bakiyev's native village of Teyit, the deputy head of the self-declared interim government said in the capital that an operation to arrest Bakiyev was being organized.

"Just let him try. If he does, much blood will be shed," Bakiyev told reporters who asked him about the statement by Almazbek Atambayev.

Atambayev did not give details about the arrest plans, but said "we do not want fresh bloodshed."

At least 81 people died in the capital last Wednesday when a confrontation between police and protesters exploded into gunfire and chaos. Protesters stormed government buildings and Bakiyev fled to his native southern region.

He has refused to step down and the rally in Teyit brought an array of speakers who vowed their support and waved banners with slogans such as "Hands off the legitimate president."

There were no uniformed police in view at the rally, and the loyalty of the country's security forces remains a significant question.

The stalemate has left Kyrgyzstan's near-term stability in doubt. That worries the West because a U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan is crucial in the military campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Atambayev, echoing previous statements by interim government leader Roza Otunbayeva, said the base's status will be discussed with the United States and "we shall decide everything in a civilized way."

Many Kyrgyz oppose the base and Atambayev expressed deep ambivalence.

"This base is our common cause to provide stability in Afghanistan," he said. But then he launched into criticism of the United States for allegedly cutting deals with Bakiyev's family for contracts at the base.

Alleged corruption by members of the Bakiyev family, including enriching themselves through fuel contracts for the base, was one of the top issues that brought out protesters last week.

"While trying to preserve the base, you lost the respect of the people," Atambayev said of the United States.

Bakiyev told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he had not ordered police to fire at protesters in the capital.

"My conscience is clear," he said.

He strongly urged the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force to Kyrgyzstan, arguing that the nation's police and the military are too weak to keep the unrest from spreading.

"The people of Kyrgyzstan are very afraid," Bakiyev said. "They live in terror."

In taking power Thursday, the interim leaders said they controlled four of Kyrgyzstan's seven regions. By Saturday they claimed to have expanded their control throughout the country.

Kyrgyzstan's society is strongly clan-based, but there are few signs that Bakiyev could muster any significant tribal support in the south to challenge the self-declared interim government. Some analysts say that a hike in utility prices and massive corruption has set many southerners against Bakiyev.

[Associated Press; By PETER LEONARD]

Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

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