New Kyrgyz govt gets Bakiyev’s resignation letter

"It is said in the message that Bakiyev, recognising his responsibility before the people and with the aim of preserving the state' s unity, in accordance with the related clause of the constitution, surrenders office," the source noted. According to him, the now ex-president had signed the resignation letter on Thursday evening, and it was received by fax by the new government's headquarters on the night to Friday.

Bakiyev together with his family members left Kyrgyzstan at 19:00, local time (17:00 MSK) on Thursday. In a small plane he flew from the airport of the regional centre Jalal-Abad to the Kazakhstani city of Taraz. Sources in the new government told Itar-Tass that all the brothers and close associates of the ex-president of Kyrgyzstan have stayed in the republic. Former Defence Minister Bakytbek Kalyev has already been arrested. He will be taken to Bishkek shortly. Besides, the president's brother Zhanybek Bakiyev, ex-Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov, head of the State National Security Service Murat Sutalinov and the president's senior son Marat Bakiyev who worked in the Security Service, have been put on the wanted list for the organisation of firing at protest rally participants.

Kyrgzystan's ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has left the territory of the country as a result of efforts of the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia, the United States and mediatory efforts on the part of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN, and the European Union, the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Kanat Saudabayev said in a special statement released Thursday night in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek.

"April 15, an agreement was reached with the interim government of Kyrgyzstan and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev through the assistance of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, US President Barack Obama, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Bakiyev's departure from the country," the statement said. The document especially stressed the importance of Bakiyev's leaving the territory of Kyrgyzstan for the efforts to bring the situation here back to normal - to restore public order and the supremacy of law.

Along with this, Saudabayev urged all the political forces in Kyrgyzstan to spearhead their efforts at maintaining stability and resolving the acutest and most pressing social and economic problems; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.

See www.itar-tass.com for full version