About 10,000 Pro-Democracy Protesters Riot in Krygystan

from the new World Media Watch up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com



5//The News International, Pakistan Monday March 21, 2005-- Safar 10, 1426 A.H.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2005-daily/21-03-2005/world/w10.htm



ABOUT 10,000 PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTERS RIOT IN KRYGYZSTAN



BISHKEK: Police fired shots in clashes on Sunday with opposition supporters demanding the resignation of Kyrgyzstan’s president but failed to stop them gaining control of key government buildings in the south of the country.



At least 10,000 pro-democracy protesters stormed a police station and forced workers to flee a governor’s office in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday, a government spokesman said, in the biggest demonstration since allegedly fraudulent elections last month.



(SNIP)



The riot was the latest in a string of nationwide protests sparked by the Feb 27 parliamentary elections in which President Askar Akayev’s allies fared overwhelmingly well.



Critics claim the vote and a subsequent runoff election were marred by widespread abuses. Europe and the United States said the polls were seriously flawed, a charge denied by the government. Sunday’s riot came a day after police forcibly evicted demonstrators from the governor’s office in Jalal-Abad and another government building in the city of Osh. More than a dozen people, including three police officers, were injured and more than 200 demonstrators were arrested, police and civic activists said.

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While they're at it, they should tell their government to return the election machines they borrowed, asap. We need them for next year, and it takes time to perform "proper maintenance" on them.

This potential revolution in Kyrgyzstan is not like the Ukraine or Georgia. Russia and the US face off "big time" in this country. The US is bringing AWACS into their base. The Russian's 30km away at their base in Kant are "shipping" in Fighter planes at a "rate of knots". Both countries know that the people of Kyrgystan will follow the rest of the ex-soviet republics. Some will win and other's like Belorussia and Uzbekistan will find it a lot tougher. However this country is a potential "flashpoint". Russia thinks US AWACS aren't being deployed for the fight on "Terrorism" but are being deployed to spy on them,China and Iran. Pootey-Put has sent a large amount of fighters to combat the US AWACS, with China's approval,if necessary! This situation did not arise in either the Ukraine or Georgia! So while the people of Kyrgyzstan rise up against President Askar Akayev and his regime the US and Russia don't really care as they are "locked" in their own stalemate over their own interests. Democracy should prevail in Kyrgyzstan.

You knew oil played a part in this, right?

http://eurasia.org.ru/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=News&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0000305