Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:42 pm Post subject: Kyrgyzstan Opposition Party Seizes Government? |
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Article here
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan � Opposition leaders declared they had seized power in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, taking control of security headquarters, a state TV channel and other government buildings after clashes between police and protesters left dozens dead in this Central Asian nation that houses a key U.S. air base.
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who came to power in a similar popular uprising five years ago, was said to have fled to the southern city of Osh, and it was difficult to gauge how much of the impoverished, mountainous country the opposition controlled.
"The security service and the Interior Ministry ... all of them are already under the management of new people," Rosa Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister who the opposition leaders said would head the interim government, told the Russian-language Mir TV channel.
The opposition has called for the closure of the U.S. air base in Manas outside the capital of Bishkek that serves as a key transit point for supplies essential to the war in nearby Afghanistan.
A senior U.S. military official says some flights were briefly diverted at the base, but as far as military officials in Washington know, the base was never closed. Scheduled troop movements in and out of Afghanistan were not affected. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because base operations are sensitive.
During the day, protesters who were called into the streets by opposition parties stormed government buildings in Bishkek and battled with police amid volleys of tear gas. Groups of elite officers then opened fire with live ammunition.
The Health Ministry said 40 people died and more than 400 were wounded. Opposition activist Toktoim Umetaliyeva said at least 100 people were killed by police gunfire.
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Lot's more at the article itself. Life seems pretty rough in any country ending in ~stan. The base mentioned in the article was going to be closed before, but the U.S. offered more money to keep it open. Maybe it'll really get closed this time, but likely we'll just end up spending even more to keep it. It's easy for the opposition party that lead the revolt to say they want the base closed, until it's them having to choose between having the base or giving up the funds from the U.S. |
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