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Bakiyev ready to resign if interim government guarantees his security

RIA Novosti

13/04/201017:10

MOSCOW, April 13 (RIA Novosti) - Deposed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Tuesday he will resign only if the interim government guarantees his and his family's security and order in the country.

Protests against Bakiyev and his government began last week in Talas and spread to other regions of the country, including Bishkek, leaving some 80 people dead and more than 1,500 injured.

The opposition has formed an interim government and named Roza Otunbayeva prime minister. Bakiyev has fled the capital, Bishkek and is in the south of the country - his traditional stronghold.

"I will resign if my and my relatives' security is guaranteed. Second, if order is guaranteed and roaming the streets with guns stops," Bakiyev said during a news conference in the country's southwestern city of Jalal-Abad.

Deputy Prime Minister Azimbek Beknazarov said earlier on Tuesday that effective immediately, Bakiyev had no immunity from prosecution, enabling the authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest if he does not return to Bishkek on Tuesday.

Bakiyev has refused to return to the capital and says he is not afraid of the opposition's threats.

A leading Russian Central Asia expert, Arkady Dubnov said the ultimatum by the interim government for Bakiyev to surrender looks more like the beginning of a trade-off than a prelude to a civil war.

"It looks like the interim government wants very much to refrain from new bloodshed. They are trying to keep the country from new bloody riots," Dubnov said.

Kurmanbek Bakiev's brother Zhanyshbek Bakiev has called the warrant for the president Bakiev's and his arrest a meaningless scrap of paper.

"I can find five or six people and issue sanctions for an arrest, with signatures and stamps, and arrest in absentia Beknazarov and others," Zhanyshbek Bakiev said.

Bakiyev has invited the head of the interim government, Roza Otunbayeva, to the south for talks.

"I will not go to Bishkek. Let Otunbayeva come for talks. We will ensure her safety," he said.

Bakiyev also said he was not against the transformation of the country from a presidential to a parliamentary republic. The interim government has announced that it intends to hold a referendum on the issue.