MOSCOW — Exiled Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said he is ready
to resign.
Akayev disclosed that he was living in Russia after being ousted from
Kyrgyzstan last week by opposition forces. Akayev said he would demand what
he termed "relevant" legal protections in exchange for any resignation.
"Of course, of course," Akayev replied to a question from Russian
television of whether he was prepared to resign. "If I am given the relevant
guarantees and if it is in full accordance with the current legislation of
Kyrgyzstan."
Akayev's statement was in contrast to an assertion he made earlier
Tuesday. In an interview on Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio, Akayev said he would
not resign.
"I've not resigned as president," Akayev said. "I am the only elected
and legitimate president of Kyrgyzstan. At the moment, I don't see any
reason or justification to resign."
In the interview, Akayev finally revealed his whereabouts. He said he
was staying at a location outside Moscow.
Akayev's apparent change of heart came after Kyrgyzstan resolved a
brewing battle between its current parliament and an elected body of
deputies. The current parliament agreed to disband and make way for the
newly-elected members, whose victories were contested by opposition forces.
The new parliament includes Akayev's son and daughter. Both of them were
said to have fled Kyrgyzstan when their father was ousted from power.
"Of course Kyrgyzstan is my homeland and I will certainly return once
there is constitutional order and personal security is guaranteed to me and
my family," Akayev told Moscow radio. "Why can't the president's children
choose their political path? Take the Kennedy family in America, U.S.
President Bush, his father."
The president said he was the victim of a long-planned coup that
included the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He
recalled leaving his headquarters in Bishkek on March 24 30 minutes before
the building was taken over by opposition forces.
His final order, he said was that security forces "not to use weapons
under any circumstances."
"It's obvious that there was an outside factor in these events," Akayev
said. "In large part, these events came about because of the desire of
certain international organizations to force the democratic process in the
CIS [the Commonwealth of Independent States]."
