Kyrgyzstan unrest over energy prices threatens to spread with new rallies

Kyrgyz unrest threatens to spread with new rallies

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Protesters angry over rising energy prices stormed a government office and held a governor hostage in Kyrgyzstan, sparking fierce clashes with police in unrest that threatens to spread with new demonstrations planned for Wednesday.

Hundreds of protesters overran the government building Tuesday on the main square of Talas, a town of 30,000 people west of the capital, Bishkek.

Baton-wielding police initially dispersed the demonstrators, but protesters fought through tear gas and flash grenades to regroup, burning police cars and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails. The ex-Soviet country’s main opposition leader, meanwhile, was detained at his home in the capital and Internet access was cut off in some areas.

Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous and impoverished country of 5 million people in Central Asia, hosts a U.S. air base that supports military operations in neighboring Afghanistan and serves as an important transit point for coalition troops and supplies.

Nationwide rallies are planned for Wednesday. The government warned of “severe” repercussions, and the main opposition party said U.S. and Russian diplomats should urge the government to refrain from violence.

Tuesday’s clashes began after the demonstrators assembled on the central square in Talas armed with rocks and flammable liquids, residents told The Associated Press by telephone. Some of the protesters gathered at the local police station and threw Molotov cocktails at President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s portraits.

Special forces stormed the square and government office, freeing a regional governor who had been taken hostage by the demonstrators. But the forces quickly lost control as the crowd swelled. Toward nightfall the protesters thinned out.

A correspondent for the local affiliate of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Talas said one person was shot with a rubber bullet fired from inside the police precinct.

Interior Ministry spokesman Rakhmatillo Akhmedov in Bishkek confirmed to the AP that police had used tear gas and said several officers were injured by stones in Talas. The ministry insisted the situation in the town had been brought under control.

The clashes occurred three days after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Kyrgyzstan and repeatedly criticized it for human rights problems, in a strong rebuke to the country once regarded as former Soviet Central Asia’s “island of democracy.”

In Bishkek, security forces stormed the home of Almazbek Atambayev, the country’s most popular opposition politician and former presidential candidate, who had barricaded himself inside.

A fellow opposition leader, Asel Kudoranova, said Atambayev was told he was being arrested because he was suspected of fomenting unrest in Talas. At the time of his arrest, Kudoranova was with Atambayev, whose home was surrounded by a cordon of police — and beyond them around 100 of his supporters.

Other opposition activists were arrested in the capital, according to local reports. Access to the Internet was disabled, but it was unclear how far the electronic disruption reached.

Ban, who was still traveling in central Asia, expressed concern about the situation in Talas.

“He emphasizes that while freedom of assembly is an essential element of any democratic society the rule of law must be respected,” the U.N. spokesman’s office in New York said in a statement. “He calls on all concerned to show restraint and appeals for dialogue.”

Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov said about 100 police officers had been dispatched to Talas, which is a six-hour drive west of the capital, Bishkek, as backup.

“I urge the organizers of these actions to desist from what they are doing. For those that do not listen, measures will be severe,” Usenov said. He said there would be no curfew.

Since coming to power on a wave of street protests in 2005, Bakiyev has ensured a measure of stability, but many observers say he has done so at the expense of democratic standards.

Over the past two years, Kyrgyz authorities have clamped down on free media, and opposition activists say they have routinely been subjected to physical intimidation and targeted by politically motivated criminal investigations.

Anti-government forces have been in disarray until recently, but widespread anger over soaring utility bills has galvanized the fractious opposition.

Associated Press writer Peter Leonard contributed to this report.