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Kyrgyz president orders to track down gangs behind riots
22/3/2005 12:28

Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev on Monday ordered the Central Election Commission and the Supreme Court to investigate the riot in the south of the country and track down those behind the unrest, reports from Kyrgyz capital Bishkek said.

The presidential press office said that Akayev summoned Chairman of the Central Election Commission Sulaiman Imanbayev andJustice Minister Kurmanbek Osmonov to discuss the issue.

During their meeting, the president said that it is true that not all people agree with the result of the election, but the situation is used by some people to press the current government, which resulted in mass violations of law, including assaulting andburning down security offices and taking over local government buildings.

Akayev had ordered the Central Election Commission and the Supreme Court to investigate the election, telling them "to pay particular attention to those districts where election results provoked extreme public reaction ... and tell people openly who isright and who is wrong," said a statement from his office on Monday.

But the president stressed that the recent election is fair in most districts except some possible technical problems, which could not affect the legitimacy of the result.

Akayev's supporters won a landslide victory in the parliament elections held on Feb. 27 with runoffs in many regions on March 13.The opposition refused to accept the results and accused the authorities of fraud in the election.

Following the election, the opposition rallied, blocked roads and occupied several government buildings, demanding Akayev's resignation. Akayev has blamed the opposition leaders for incitinga civil war.

According to other reports, Akayev's spokesman Abdil Segizbayevsaid on Monday that the extremist forces and terrorist organizations may take advantage of the dispute to reach their ulterior aims, adding that the riots created by the opposition in the south are similar to extremist activities.



 Xinhua