President flees

Krygyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has flown out of the country to neighboring Kazakhstan following last week's civil uprising which ousted him from office.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - whose rotating presidency is currently held by Kazakhstan - confirmed on Thursday that Bakiyev had left Kyrgyzstan.

His departure was engineered in a joint effort by leaders in Kazakhstan, the United States, and Russia, according to the Kazakh foreign minster and current OSCE chairman, Kanat Saudabayev.

"This development is an important step towards the stabilization of the situation, a return to a framework providing for the rule of law, and the prevention of a civil war in Krygyzstan," Saudabayev said.

A senior aid to Bakiyev - speaking with the news agency Reuters - and a source within the interim government in Kyrgyzstan - in talks with Agence France Presse - confirmed the president's departure.

Bakiyev, who came to power in violent protests against the previous government five years ago, fled to his traditional power base Jalalabad in southern Kyrgyzstan on April 7 after increasingly violent protests and clashes, particularly in the capital, Bishkek.

Local Kyrgyz media on Thursday reported that the president was willing to leave the country, while the interim leader Roza Otunbayeva repeatedly called for him to stand trial for the death of some 84 people during the civil uprising.

"My next destination is now being discussed by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, and even the United States," the ousted president was quoted as saying. "[Kazakh President] Nursultan Nazarbayev personally invited me to Kazakhtan."

msh/dpa/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold