Kyrgyz ousted president says he is ready to quit with immunity
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Bishkek, April 13, IRNA -- The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Tuesday he would step down after the provisional government stripped him of his immunity and gave him until the end of the day Tuesday to surrender.
He led a rally of several thousand people in Jalalabad, a city close to his family’s compound on Tuesday and warned of bloodshed if the provisional government attempt to arrest him.
“I will go into retirement if security is guaranteed for me and my relatives,” he told reporters in Jalalabad, southern Kyrgyzstan.
In a speech that evoked cheers from a crowd of mostly male supporters, Mr. Bakiyev continued to blame his opponents for the violence in Bishkek, which left more than 80 people dead and recalled the largely peaceful coup in 2005 that ushered him into power.
“That which happened in Bishkek was barbaric,” he told the crowd.
“If I was guilty of this, I would have run away like the last president.”
The new leaders had at first insisted the police would honor the president’s immunity from prosecution under the Kyrgyz Constitution, as he has not formally resigned his post.
Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, the leader of the interim government, suggested Mr. Bakiyev should face an international tribunal, and she raised the prospect in a meeting with a United Nations special envoy.
End News / IRNA / News Code 1053522
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