Posted on 03/26/2005 7:40:01 AM PST by Valin
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan's ousted interior minister led thousands of demonstrators toward the capital on Saturday to protest against the coup that overthrew President Askar Akayev, warning there was a risk of civil war.
The new leadership declared it was firmly in control of the mountainous ex-Soviet state, but acting President Kurmanbek Bakiev switched the venue of a news conference because officials said they had information of a possible plot to kill him.
Ignoring the exiled Akayev's refusal to resign in the face of what he called a coup, parliament set June 26 for a new presidential election in the central Asian nation.
Bakiev said he would run in the election.
About 3,000 people set off from Akayev's home region of Chym Korgon, some 90 km (55 miles) outside Bishkek, two days after the president was swept from power in mass protests.
"They may get there today. They may get there tomorrow, but the important thing is they will go there," Keneshbek Dushebayev, appointed interior minister by Akayev just before he was ousted, told Reuters.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
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