Opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan announced today that they had toppled the Government and taken power after a day of rioting that left as many as 100 dead and hundreds wounded.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, has in effect recognised the new leadership and the opposition this morning took control of the country's armed forces.
They also demanded the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has fled to the city of Osh, in his southern heartland, after demonstrators set fire to government buildings and fought running battles with riot police in the capital Bishkek.
The opposition leader, Roza Otunbayeva, said that she would head a caretaker government for six months until new elections could be called under a revised constitution.
All eyes were on Mr Bakiyev to see if he intended to try to regain control of the capital. A rally was scheduled to take place in Osh today.
Hundreds of people were gathered on the street outside the government headquarters this morning, which were unguarded by police, while others walked freely through the building. Almost every government building had been damaged and looters could be seen making off with stolen computer equipment past shops and cars that had been set on fire.
“The whole country is on fire,” said Nurlan Aslybekov, an unemployed man who travelled to Bishkek from Talas, where the first anti-government protests broke out.
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