Kyrgyzstan asks Russia for help to maintain order

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10300348.stm

Kyrgyzstan’s interim government has asked Russia to help end ethnic clashes in the southern city of Osh, in which 77 people have been killed.

“We need the entry of outside armed forces to calm the situation down,” interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said.

But Russia said for the time being it would not send troops to Kyrgyzstan.

Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks have massed at the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border as they try to escape fighting between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that has raged for two days.

In a televised address, Ms Otunbayeva said she had sent a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev asking him to send military reinforcements.

She described the situation in Osh as “out of control”.

Russia was not prepared to send troops to Kyrgyzstan under the current circumstances, but would send humanitarian aid to the violence-hit region, a spokeswoman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

“It is an internal conflict and for now Russia does not see the conditions for taking part in its resolution,” Natalya Timakova, Mr Medvedev’s spokeswoman, was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Mr Medvedev would consult with other members of the regional security grouping, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, about a response to the crisis, Ms Timakova said.

The 150 Russian soldiers based near the Kyrgyz capital had been given no instruction to intervene, Russian media quoted an unnamed senior military source as saying.

A plane carrying medical supplies has been sent to Kyrgyzstan to evacuate some of the badly-injured people for treatment in Russia, officials in Moscow said.

The violence is the worst to hit the Central Asian country since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

Nearly people have been hurt, health ministry officials said, adding that there was a shortage of food and care for the injured.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Tens-of-Thousands-Flee-Ethnic-Riots-in-Kyrgyzstan-96274668.html

Southern Kyrgyzstan remains gripped by inter-ethnic violence as bodies of Uzbeks killed by Kyrgyz gangs lay in the streets and a wave of refugees flees the country for Uzbekistan. The death toll following a tense night stood at 117 with fears of much higher figures to come.

Many homes are reported on fire in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad and other towns of southern Kyrgyzstan, where gangs of the majority ethnic-Kyrgyz population went on a killing spree against Uzbeks on Friday. There has also been widespread looting of Uzbek shops.

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they keep saying its gangs but i dont think “gangs” can bring a country to its knees like this..more likely its cia operations in a country who has rejecetd the usa now and emabraces the russians again..as we said would happen..

401

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~ by seeker401 on June 16, 2010.