Pressure to Kyrgyz leader return

Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan's ousted president Askar Akayev said yesterday he was willing to return to his homeland to formally resign after a lightning coup last week that he accuses the United States of fomenting.

Plans to let Mr Akayev return to central Asia from exile in Russia have divided his erstwhile opponents, causing friction in the new leadership that western diplomats fear could spark more violence ahead of a planned June 26th presidential election.

"I didn't surrender office and right now I am the only legitimate head of state," Mr Akayev insisted yesterday, a week after he fled as protests in southern Kyrgyzstan against rigged elections, poverty and corruption spread to the capital, Bishkek.

"But I am prepared to return to Kyrgyzstan and transfer power peacefully" if given security and other guarantees, he added.

"Of course I will go back to Kyrgyzstan - it's my homeland, my country. But if I go back I won't play any political role," he said.

Mr Akayev was due to step down in October after 15 years in power, but critics feared he would change the constitution and extend his presidency after his allies dominated recent parliamentary elections that western observers called deeply flawed.

Protests against those elections were initially isolated in the southern cities of Osh and Jalal Abad, but exploded last Thursday in Bishkek, forcing Mr Akayev to flee. He has blamed Washington for supporting his opponents.

"A week before these events I saw a letter on the internet signed by the US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. It contained a detailed plan for the revolution," Mr Akayev said. The US embassy in Bishkek says the letter was a fake.

In Bishkek, acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev looked increasingly isolated after insisting that Mr Akayev delay his return home to avoid reigniting violence.

"Right now we are discussing the logistics on beginning talks" with Mr Akayev, said the new speaker of parliament, Omurbek Tekebayev.

Dimitrij Rupel, the current head of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), urged the new Kyrgyz leaders to include Mr Akayev in talks.