Ex-Kyrgyz president supporters seize regional administration offices
18:5213/05/2010 BISHKEK / MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) - Supporters of ex-Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev stormed on Thursday administration offices in three southern regions, eyewitnesses said.
They said up to 700 Bakiyev supporters forced their way into the building in the southern city of Jalal-Abad. The acting governor fled the scene.
Around 50 people stormed the administration office in the Batken Region.
"The working day was over, very few workers were in the building," a source said. "Supporters of the former authorities entered the building."
Earlier the day, protesters opposed to the new government seized a provincial administrative building in the city of Osh.
The protesters are aiming to the replace regional administrators appointed by the new authorities in Bishkek.
The south of Kyrgyzstan has long been considered Bakiyev's stronghold, and he initially took refuge in the region after violent street protests in April. He is now in Belarus.
Earlier this week, Kyrgyz authorities formally requested the Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite Bakiyev. An official said the request was under consideration, but a Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman suggested it would not be resolved quickly.
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office has accused Bakiyev and his relatives of involvement in the deaths of more than 80 people shot by security forces during the April unrest.
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