Bakiyev flies to unknown location

BISHKEK – Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's plane departed Kazakhstan April 17 for an unknown destination, news media reported.

He's not in Belarus, Vadim Melnik, director of the Belarusian Transportation Ministry's Aviation Department, told reporters, RIA Novosti said. He's not in Turkey either, a Turkish Foreign Ministry representative said on Turkey's NTV, denying reports that Ankara intended to grant Bakiyev asylum. Other media published unverified reports that Bakiyev had flown to Moscow.

Bakiyev will face a court someday, interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva vowed April 16. "He can't escape justice", she said on TV. "He won't be able to hide in any country".

Meanwhile, April 17 in Dzhalal-Abad, supporters of former Defence Minister Bakytbek Kalyev held a rally. Police arrested him after Bakiyev fled Kyrgyzstan. The 300 demonstrators seized the oblast's administrative building.

Former Bakiyev bodyguards are guarding the building, according to 24.kg. The Kalyev supporters are demanding that Kyrgyz television show Bakiyev and doubt that he resigned, according to ferghana.ru. The building's occupiers also demand Kalyev's release.

In Dzhalal-Abad on the same day, acting Interior Minister Bolot Sherniyazov fled when female backers of Bakiyev threw stones at his car and attacked him. Sherniyazov had come to town earlier to participate in Kalyev's arrest and was attending a separate rally by policemen demanding their rights.

Nonetheless, the interim government said things would work out. "There won't be a civil war", predicted Temir Sariyev, chairman of the interim government, in assessing the situation in Dzhalal-Abad. Osh Oblast "has deployed additional law enforcement resources; they have control of the situation", he told reporters.

"Law enforcement officers are not going to fire on a peaceful population, and we will not permit a bloodbath", he added.

Residents of the country's south recognise the new government and do not support Bakiyev, he said.

In Bishkek, the government may be trying to tone down presidential power in the future. Amendments to the constitution have been prepared, 24.kg reported, quoting the interim government. The amendments reportedly redistribute powers among the president, prime minister and parliament.

Bishkek is mourning the 84 killed in the April 6-8 events. Mourners have been bringing flowers and candles to Ala-Too Square, where photographs of the dead are on display.