The ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev. / Archives
As Russia and the European Union vowed to support an interim government, Kurmanbek Bakiyev chased from power after a five-year rule said the nation faced catastrophe.
Although his exact whereabouts were unknown, Bakiyev told Russian radio he was in southern Kyrgyzstan and had no plans "to leave at the moment", and released a statement insisting that he would not throw in the towel.
"I declare that as president I have not abdicated and am not abdicating responsibility," Bakiyev said in the statement published by local news website.
He said the country was on the brink of a full-fledged "humanitarian catastrophe" and admitted the army and police were no longer in his control.
"In many regions of the country, and especially in the capital, we see genuine chaos, a wave of violence and pillage is swelling and inter-ethnic conflicts are emerging," he said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Russia has sent an extra 150 elite paratroopers to its military base in Kyrgyzstan, the Russian chief of staff of the armed forces said Thursday, according to news agencies.
"It was the president's decision to send there two companies of paratroopers -- around 150 people have arrived in Kant," Nikolai Makarov told reporters in the Czech republic Prague, where he was accompanying President Dmitry Medvedev.
Ex-foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, who has been declared interim leader, said Bakiyev was trying to rally support in a southern stronghold after a revolt against his rule which left at least 75 people dead.
But she said fresh presidential elections would be held in six months time as she secured support from the Russian government, still the key foreign player in the former Soviet republic which also hosts a US airbase.
A health ministry official told AFP 75 people had been killed and over 1,000 injured in the riots which swept the central Asian republic on Wednesday, although a senior opposition figure put the death toll at more than 100.
Kyrgyzstan has been plagued by corruption and chronic instability and the uprising was the culmination of growing opposition anger fuelled by widespread fraud and irregularities in last year's presidential polls.
INTERNATIONAL COMMENTS
As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the re-establishment of constitutional order and announced he was sending an envoy to the country, Otunbayeva appealed for calm and told the armed forces to refrain from force.
"The president is trying to consolidate his electorate in the south, in order to continue defending his positions," she said at a news conference. "The (interim government) insists that he stands down."
The parliament, she added, would be disbanded and the provisional government would temporarily perform the duties of both the president and parliament.
"Before the new parliament is elected the provisional government assumes its duties," Otunbayeva added.
General Ismail Isakov, who has taken over as interim defense minister, said key military leaders had pledged their allegiance to the new government.
"The army has moved entirely to our side," Isakov said.
Otunbayeva said a US airbase outside Bishkek which is seen as vital to the NATO campaign in nearby Afghanistan would remain open despite the power shift.
In Washington, the Pentagon said that the upheaval has not "seriously affected" US support for its forces in Afghanistan transiting via the base.
Careful not to upset Moscow, Otunbayeva also spoke by phone with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who in turn offered aid.
The European Union also said it was ready to provide urgent humanitarian assistance as it appealed for calm.
"A rapid return to public order is essential to avoid further loss" of life, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.
In fierce clashes in Bishkek on Wednesday, security forces had fired live bullets into the air as thousands of protestors overturned cars and set them on fire. Similar scenes were seen throughout the country.
The country's interim interior minister ordered looters to be shot on sight, after major pillaging that accompanied the riots, including of Bakiyev's residence where everything from radiators to plants was taken.
Looters also ransacked the home of Bakiyev's family, enraged by evidence of the first family's lavish lifestyle in one of the poorest countries to have emerged from the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
"The authorities robbed the people, now it's the people who are stripping the authorities," said Nurali Baimatovich, a school headmaster, as he watched the looters carry off their trophies.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the unrest was an internal issue but "showed ordinary people's extreme outrage at the existing regime."
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