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Kyrgyz opposition to hold protest | Kyrgyz opposition to hold protest |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Mass opposition protests are planned in Kyrgyzstan to call for the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. | |
Thousands of police have been mobilised as opposition supporters gather in the capital Bishkek. | |
Earlier, the president rejected opposition calls for immediate constitutional reform, and called for a halt to the protest. | |
Mr Bakiyev won a landslide victory last year, but his government is accused of failing to curb widespread corruption. | |
The opposition has been urging him to fulfil his election promises and introduce constitutional reforms that would curtail presidential powers and hand more authority to the parliament and cabinet. | |
They say he promised, in talks earlier this week, to make some constitutional reforms, which he would submit to parliament on Thursday. | |
But in a short speech to parliament, Mr Bakiyev said any reforms should not be adopted in an "hour or two" and called on the opposition not to "exert pressure" on him. | |
"I'm not avoiding you, but I have to listen to other lawmakers," he told them. "If you exert pressure through rallies, you will get an adequate response." | |
He asked them to cancel the protests and return to the negotiating table. | |
Wider repercussions | |
But opposition leader Melis Eshimkhanov said Mr Bakiyev "broke his promise again". | |
"He chose the path of conflict, and the people's only demand will be his resignation," he told the Associated Press. | |
President Bakiyev helped lead the so-called Tulip Revolution in 2005 that drove long-time President Askar Akayev from power in the impoverished Central Asian state. | |
But most of his former allies have turned again him, accusing him of failing to tackle corruption and create a government based on democratic principles. | |
Any instability in the country could have wider repercussions, the BBC's Natalia Anteleva in Bishkek reports. | |
The only US military base in the former Soviet Union lies just outside Bishkek and is a crucial operation for supplying Nato troops to Afghanistan. |