Opposition protesters seized control of Kyrgyzstan's main government building and the national television station on Thursday, as the government was contacting the opposition for possible talks to resolve a crisis over disputed elections.

About 1,000 protesters managed to clear riot police from their positions outside the fence protecting the building, and about half that number entered the compound and went into the building through the front entrance.

Protesters later entered the headquarters of the national television station, which has not been broadcasting the protests in the capital of Bishkek.

Kyrgyz news agency reported that President Askar Akayev has left the presidential office and arrived at a Russian airbase outside Bishkek.

So far, opposition protesters have taken control of administration buildings in three of Kyrgyzstan's seven regions and the administration buildings of smaller districts within two other regions. Authorities admitted to the public that the situation in some places has "gone out of control."

Earlier, Interior Minister Keneshbek Dushebayev appealed to the protesters to refrain from violence, saying peaceful demonstrators would not be the targets of police anti-riot action.

"We ask (the protesters) not to destroy, not to loot, not to storm state buildings and shops. I will never give an order to use arms against peaceable people," Keneshbek Dushebayev told reporters.

DIALOGUE SOUGHT

Kyrgyz Defense Minister Esen Topoyev and lawmaker Tashkul Kereksizov had flown to Osh, currently under opposition control, for talks with protest leaders, local press reported Thursday.

They were to make preparations for talks between the government and the opposition, which could be held as early as Thursday, reports said.

Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev was due to head Thursday's talks in the flashpoint southern city, but he canceled the trip, government spokeswoman Roza Daudova said.

"There might be other mediators" rather than Tanayev, she said without elaborating.

A delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperationin Europe (OSCE) was due to arrive in Bishkek Thursday to mediate talks between the government and the opposition, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported quoting a foreign ministry source.

The opposition started rallying after the Feb. 27 parliamentaryelection, saying the poll was flawed. Rallies escalated after the March 13 run-offs, with opposition taking control of government buildings and airports in some southern regions and banks looted in demonstration-turned riots.

ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUDS

Of the 71 legislators elected in the two rounds of vote, about 30 are pro-government and 10 opposition. The rest are independent candidates. The opposition accused the government of rigging the vote in a bid to shut the opposition out of the parliament. They demanded the results nullified and president Akayev step down.

Earlier this week, the initially peaceful opposition demonstrations turned violent in Osh, the second biggest city in the country, when protesters laid siege to police stations and burned down a police headquarters. The city's administration buildings and airport also fell into opposition hands.

Protesters wielded sticks, stones and homemade gasoline bombs after police forcibly evicted demonstrators from buildings they had occupied in two towns over the weekend. More than a dozen people were injured.

In Jalal Abad, another key southern region, thousands of opposition supporters stormed government buildings and some rioters ransacked banks and took some government officials hostage.The opposition later set up a shadow government of their own.

Tanayev called on the opposition to stay calm and win power through legal means, not "revolutionary means." Akayev on Monday asked the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Supreme Court to investigate the election results and opposition allegations.

The CEC said later that results of four out of the 73 electoral districts were to be examined, and another district is to go to a fresh poll within a month. But all these failed to appease protesters, who insist on the resignation of Akayev.

AKAYEV REFUSES TO STEP DOWN

    On Wednesday, the opposition presented demands it considered prerequisites for talks, including the resignation of several state officials and official recognition of the protest leaders of Osh and Jalal Abad regions.

    But a spokesman of Akayav said the president would neither accept their terms nor negotiate amid violence.

    Akayev "was ready to hold talks with the opposition in order tokeep the country stable, but the opposition's conditions are unacceptable," spokesman Abdil Segizbayev said late Wednesday.

    "Through provocative methods, they open the road to crime. Government offices are burned, pogroms are held, this strikes fearinto peaceful people. If the opposition takes the situation in hand and no longer hurts the people, the president would be ready for dialogue," he said.

    Akayev, 60, who has ruled the central Asian country since 1990,has rejected opposition demands that he resign and annul the results of the election. Only the parliament or the people have the right to ask him to step down, he said.     

DANGER OF MORE VIOLENCE

Throughout the crisis, the government has been taking care to avoid confrontation with the protesters. Akayev also vowed not to resort to emergency measures.

But as tension mounted, the government seemed about to tighten its hands. The president on Wednesday sacked his interior ministerand the prosecutor-general for their failure to prevent chaos in the south.

Their successors have quickly voiced determination to prevent the unrest from spiraling out of control.

Just hours after being appointed Wednesday as interior minister,Keneshbek Dyushbayev said law enforcement forces could legally use"physical force, special means and firearms in order to restore constitutional order."

Shortly before he spoke, riot police moved in and broke up an anti-Akayev demonstration of about 200 people in the capital.

The United Nations, the European Union (EU), the United States and Kyrgyzstan's neighboring countries have expressed concern overthe exacerbating crisis, urging both sides to stay calm and conduct dialogues.

Russia criticized the EU for what it said was an "incorrect assessment" of the crisis in Kyrgyzstan, saying that it could lead to an escalation of tensions in the former Soviet republic.