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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Kyrgyz leader sez "foreign forces" stirring up trouble |
| 2006-04-20 |
| Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who came to power in a revolution last year promising to bring democracy, accused "foreign forces" on Wednesday of stoking unrest in his impoverished Central Asian country. Kyrgyzstan has been plagued by instability and crime since a violent coup toppled veteran leader Askar Akayev last year, in contrast to peaceful protests in Ukraine and Georgia which brought new pro-Western governments to power. Speaking just hours after he threatened to shut down a U.S. military base, Bakiyev said foreigners were playing their own game against his interests in Kyrgyzstan -- striking a tone typical of authoritarian leaders in other ex-Soviet states. "There are forces, especially foreign forces, who see Kyrgyzstan as a territory for their own interests," Bakiyev told a group of opposition leaders who had gathered to express their disagreement with his policies. "These foreign forces don't want us to develop economically, they want to keep us on a short lead ... We must not fall under any country's influence." Officials in Uzbekistan, Belarus and other ex-Soviet countries where dissent is tightly controlled frequently accuse unnamed foreign forces of trying to undermine their rule. Bakiyev is due to visit Russia -- which has long expressed concerns over the U.S. military presence in Central Asia -- early next week for talks with President Vladimir Putin, who also has blamed foreigners of trying to undermine Russia. The new Kyrgyz opposition, spearheaded by Omurbek Tekebayev, a former speaker of parliament, has accused Bakiyev of backtracking on his pre-election pledges, and promised to hold a countrywide protest on April 29. "What tyranny are you talking about? There is no other country more democratic than Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet bloc," said Bakiyev, who has vowed to use what he called the harshest methods to prevent any repeat of last year's unrest. Edil Baisalov, an activist who has criticised Bakiyev for not doing enough to restore order, said: "This is what Akayev used to say when he accused Bakiyev of being backed by the West. "This is a clear attempt by Bakiyev to seek Russian support in a situation when his position has weakened," he told Reuters. Earlier, Kyrgyzstan threatened to close the Manas military base, which U.S. forces set up during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, if Washington did not agree to a new contract. The Pentagon declined to address the substance of Bakiyev's comments on the Manas base. "The U.S. respects Kyrgyzstan's decisions as a sovereign nation," said Lieutenant Colonel Tracy O'Grady-Walsh, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "The agreement on the use of Manas is a bilateral agreement between the governments of (the) U.S. and Kyrgyzstan." O'Grady-Walsh said use of the base contributes directly to the support of U.S.-led operations against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. The presence of U.S. troops in Central Asia, traditionally a Russian sphere of influence, is a headache for Moscow which ruled Kyrgyzstan until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The United States also set up a base in Uzbekistan, but the authoritarian country last year told the Americans to leave after Washington criticised Tashkent over the bloody suppression of a rebellion in the eastern town of Andizhan. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |