BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyzstan holds a referendum on a new constitution Sunday, a risky gamble amid deadly ethnic tensions but one the interim government hopes will legitimize their hold on power until new elections in October.The Central Asian nation was on a high security alert for the vote, deploying almost 8,000 police officers and an equal number of defense volunteers to keep the pea
OSH, Kyrgyzstan – Some 100,000 minority Uzbeks fleeing a purge by mobs of Kyrgyz massed at the border Monday, an Uzbek leader said, as the deadliest ethnic violence to hit this Central Asian nation in decades left a major city smoldering.With fires raging in the southern city of Osh for a fourth day Monday, the official death toll of 124 killed and nearly 1,500 injured from the clashes that
Fresh unrest in south leaves dozens deadMobs of armed men torched Uzbek neighborhoods in Kyrgyzstan on Friday in ethnic clashes that officials said left at least 45 people dead and 637 wounded in a Central Asian nation that is home to U.S and Russian military bases.The rioting in the southern city of Osh, the country's second-largest, marked the worst outbreak of violence since President Kurmanb
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan The rioting in Osh, the country's second-largest city, is the heaviest violence since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was toppled in a bloody uprising in April and fled the country.The unrest also spread to the capital, where armed mobs clashed with police and volunteer militia, according to witnesses.The intensity of the conflict, which pits ethnic Kyrgyz against minority
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – Opponents of Kyrgyzstan's interim government have taken over a regional government building in the south in a sign of persistent political turbulence in the Central Asian nation.Peace is gradually returning to Kyrgyzstan more than one month after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown amid violent clashes between government troops and demonstrators that left at lea
Russian forces have detained the former Kyrgyz interior minister and returned him to the Central Asian nation, the interim Kyrgyz government said.Moldomusa Kongantiyev was held in Moscow and is now in custody in Bishkek, a senior Kyrgyz official said.Mr Kongantiyev served under Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was ousted in bloody protests two weeks ago.Officials said he was being investigated for his role
TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan – The deposed president of Kyrgyzstan has refused to go quietly until the safety of his family is guaranteed.But Kurmanbek Bakiyev's family includes two sons, five brothers and his brothers' many sons — members of a clan that has grown wealthy and powerful under his rule — and the new government says it will offer them no guarantees.The stalemate prolongs the u
TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyzstan's deposed president on Sunday defended the legitimacy of his rule and urged the United Nations to send peacekeepers to help stabilize the strategically vital Central Asian nation.President Kurmanbek Bakiyev told The Associated Press in an interview at his home village in the south of the country that he had not ordered police to fire at protesters in the capit