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Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in front of the Kyrgyz parliament for a third day Monday to demand that the prime minister resign over the slaying of a lawmaker during a prison uprising.
The protesters claimed Prime Minister Felix Kulov was indirectly responsible for the death of lawmaker Tynychbek Akmatbayev, who was killed Thursday when he visited a prison that had been taken over by the inmates protesting their living conditions.
The circumstances of Akmatbayev's death remain unclear. A government report said he was armed when he entered the prison and that he had spoken rudely to some of the inmates. Kulov later went to the prison with other officials to negotiate with the inmates and demand that Akmatbayev's body be released.
Security Council Secretary Miroslav Niyazov told reporters the government would try to find a compromise with the protesters but that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was not considering firing Kulov.
Though the protest has been largely peaceful, it underlines the political tensions that persist in Kyrgyzstan in the wake of the popular uprising in March that drove President Askar Akayev into exile. Bakiyev was elected president in July.
Kyrgyz politics is marked by intense regional loyalties, and the presence of Kulov, a northerner, is important to Bakiyev, who is from the south.
(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies, October 25, 2005)
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