I believe that henceforth whoever wants to crush the will of the people will
meet the same fate as those of the former leaders of Georgia, Ukraine and
just yesterday of Kyrgyztan. Dictators are reknown experts in fleeing their
countries when the fury of the masses erupt.
Many thanks,
Bailo
>From: Ams Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: President of Kyrgyzstan Fled Country - Gambians,
>What're we waiting for?
>Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 16:37:27 EST
>
>As Yahya Jammeh's "BALLEH WAING AK RATOH KURAN" [METAL BROOM AND ELECTRIC
>RAKE] Yahya's words not mine, swept through various departments yesterday
>and
>today, netting more than 40+ senior civil servant and SOS [including our
>Mafy
>Jarju and Hydara], Uncle Tom Boy [Tombong] Saidy, they were paraded around
>town and taken to Baaba Jobe's residence for processing and then to NIA
>and or
>Police Stations; Boy the criminal mind at work! Most of them were released
>and some were fired and other hanging loose waiting for instructions from
>Mansa
>Jammeh. No wonder, a brother said to me: Jammeh's administration is a
>heirachy of DOFF, DOFF, DOFF AND CLEVER, DOFF, DOFF, in continum. The
>million $$
>question being asked around town is: WHAT'S YAHYA JAHANAMA TRYING TO
>PROVE?
>That he's clean and those following are all corrupt and criminals? Think
>again!
>Only a sick and criminal-minded person thinks like Gambia's Ayatollah or
>Paa
>Bi [The old man in the house] as he's now called around office corridors.
>Could you imagine Gambians stooping so low out of fear and contempt to
>call
>Jammeh, Paa Bi? There's a cloud of darkness hanging around Gambia and
>Gambians,
>especially the coalition, should capitalize on these opportunities and
>send
>these rascals/criminals/mercenaries to follow the footsteps of
>Kyrgyzstan's
>President. Aprill 10-1, 2000 was a missed opportunity for the students to
>change
>Gambia forever, but the opposition were not able, willing and ready to
>take
>charge. The next time around, People should lead and leaders will follow
>for
>good.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---------------------------------------------------
>Please read on:
>Updated: 03:47 PM EST
>President Said to Have Fled Kyrgyzstan
>
>By STEVE GUTTERMAN, AP
>
>(http://ar.atwola.com/link/93179288/html?badsc=B0g3HYAwL_45bndvSxsWLTFmmfb1rbAWaCATDCMG6LHtq-pyFa3XUMTAsS_NrwXCncWISK-53hYSCND4d9pw2B2fJ-ziX3M3AKBHpv2vh3pw
>kw0MiQsF3XE0bzvoCvY56qjTCOIVaMQr7Jvro9u4Y5cn8lfccapzHLKgUMAeyJFARHh6Qlr1OPVg$$
>)
>(http://ar.atwola.com/link/93179288/785037563/aoladp?target=_blank&border=0)
>BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 24) - President Askar Akayev reportedly fled on
>Thursday after protesters stormed his headquarters, seized control of
>state
>television and rampaged through government offices, throwing computers and
>air
>conditioners out of windows.
>
>A leading opponent of the Akayev regime, Felix Kulov, was freed from
>prison
>and praised the ''revolution made by the people.'' Kulov said Akayev had
>signed a letter of resignation, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
>Members of the reinstated parliament that was in power before February's
>disputed election met Thursday night to discuss keeping order in the
>nation and
>conducting a new presidential vote, perhaps as early as May or June.
>Legislators in the upper house elected a former opposition lawmaker,
>Ishenbai Kadyrbekov, as interim president, but the lower chamber did not
>immediately
>approve the choice.
>Kadyrbekov, a Communist lawmaker in the previous bicameral parliament, had
>been disqualified by authorities from running in the disputed elections in
>February and early March, which fueled the protests.
>Opposition activist Ulan Shambetov, who briefly sat in Akayev's office
>chair
>to celebrate, praised the latest uprising to sweep a former Soviet
>republic.
>''It's not the opposition that has seized power, it's the people who have
>taken power. The people. They have been fighting for so long against
>corruption, against that (Akayev) family,'' he said.
>The takeover of government buildings in Bishkek followed similar seizures
>by
>opposition activists in southern Kyrgyzstan, including the second-largest
>city, Osh. Those protests began even before the first round of
>parliamentary
>elections on Feb. 27 and swelled after March 13 run-offs that the
>opposition
>said were seriously flawed. U.S. and European officials concurred.
>Later Thursday, Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court declared the election invalid
>and
>recognized the former parliament as the legitimate legislature, said
>former
>parliamentary speaker Abdygany Erkebayev.
>Akayev's whereabouts were not known. Both the opposition and Russian news
>agencies said he had left the country but U.S. officials raised doubts
>about
>whether he was no longer in Kyrgyzstan.
>Opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev appeared on state TV and declared:
>''Akayev is no longer on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.''
>The Interfax news agency, without citing sources, said Akayev had flown to
>Russia but later said he had landed in Kazakhstan.
>However, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was asked about the reports
>during a stop in Guatemala.
>''The intelligence reports do not verify what you cited from press
>reports.
>I'm confident there will be no issue with respect to U.S. forces,''
>Rumsfeld
>said.
>Bakiyev also said the prime minister had resigned but that those in charge
>of the Security, Interior and Defense ministries were working with the
>opposition.
>Politics in Kyrgyzstan depends as much on clan ties as on ideology, and
>the
>fractious opposition has no unified program beyond calls for more
>democracy,
>an end to poverty and corruption, and a desire to oust Akayev, who held
>power
>in the former Soviet republic for 15 years.
>The fragmented opposition has shown no signs it would change policy toward
>Russia or the West - and unlike in recent anti-government protests in
>Georgia
>and Ukraine, foreign policy has not been an issue.
>But any change would have impact, since both the United States and Russia
>have cooperated with Akayev and have military bases near Bishkek. There
>are
>about 1,000 U.S. troops at Manas air base outside Bishkek. Defense
>Secretary
>Donald H. Rumsfeld said he didn't believe they would be adversely affected
>by
>the turmoil.
>Kyrgyzstan's role as a conduit for drugs and a potential hotbed of Islamic
>extremism, particularly in the impoverished south, makes it volatile.
>There is
>no indication, however, that the opposition would be more amenable to
>Islamic fundamentalist influence than Akayev's government has been.
>''The future of Kyrgyzstan should be decided by the people of Kyrgyzstan,
>consistent with the principles of peaceful change, of dialogue and respect
>for
>the rule of law,'' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
>The takeover began with a rally Thursday morning on the outskirts of
>Bishkek, where about 5,000 protesters roared and clapped when an
>opposition speaker
>said they soon would control the entire country.
>''The people of Kyrgyzstan will not let anybody torment them,'' Bakiyev
>told
>the crowd. ''We must show persistence and strength, and we will win.''
>Interior Minister Keneshbek Dushebayev addressed demonstrators and urged
>them to obey the law, but he also departed from his warnings a day earlier
>of a
>violent crackdown, saying no force would be used against peaceful
>protesters.
>About 1,000 people surged toward the hulking, Soviet-era building that
>contained Akayev's offices and met little resistance from the helmeted
>riot police
>who held truncheons and shields next to a protective fence. About half of
>the crowd entered through the front. Others smashed windows with stones,
>tossed
>papers and tore portraits of Akayev in half and stomped on them.
>Some demonstrators were injured during a clash with a group of
>truncheon-wielding men in civilian clothes and blue armbands - the color of
> Akayev's
>party. One demonstrator had a serious head injury and a broken leg, and
>another
>had broken ribs, said Iskander Shamshiyev, leader of the opposition Youth
>Movement of Kyrgyzstan.
>Vincent Lusser, a spokesman for the International Red Cross in Geneva,
>said
>its staff had seen ''a few dozen wounded'' in Bishkek hospitals - most
>with
>injuries sustained in falls or fistfights.
>Hundreds of police watched from outside the fence, where thousands more
>protesters remained, appearing disorganized and unwilling to act against
>the
>demonstrators. Neither side visibly carried any firearms.
>Officials left through a side door, protected by Interior Ministry troops.
>Some camouflage-clad troops also left peacefully.
>Many of the demonstrators wore pink or yellow headbands signifying their
>loyalty to the opposition - reminiscent of the orange worn by protesters
>who
>helped bring in a pro-Western president in Ukraine last year and the rose
>hues
>worn in Georgia in 2003.
>At one point, a protester charged through the square on horseback, a
>yellow
>opposition flag waving, and protesters chanted, ''Akayev, go!''
>Dozens of youths rampaged inside the building, some smashing furniture and
>looting supplies, ignoring protest organizers urging them to stop. Broken
>glass littered the floors and a drugstore in the building was ransacked.
>''It's the victory of the people. But now we don't know how to stop these
>young guys,'' said Noman Akabayev, who ran unsuccessfully in the
>elections.
>Several hours after the takeover, thick plumes of black smoke rose from
>two
>burning cars nearby, apparently belonging to government officials. A fire
>truck responded.
>After nightfall, thousands milled peacefully in Ala-Too Square outside the
>presidential headquarters, occasionally breaking into cheers. But a large
>store on a main street was looted, with mostly young men carting out
>crates of
>food, juice and cookies, as well as mattresses, mirrors and coat hangers.
>''You have to understand, people are living in poverty,'' Kulov said.
>Kulov's release could be a key element in unifying the Kyrgyz opposition,
>which until now has lacked a single clear leader.
>He had been serving 10 years in prison for embezzlement and abuse of power
>-
>charges he says were fabricated by the Akayev regime. A former vice
>president, interior minister and mayor of Bishkek, Kulov was arrested after
>announcing his candidacy to oppose Akayev in the 2000 presidential
>election.
>''It is a revolution made by the people,'' Kulov said on state television,
>adding, ''Tomorrow will come, and we must decide how to live tomorrow.''
>Topchubek Turgunaliyev of the opposition People's Movement of Kyrgyzstan,
>said new parliamentary elections would be held in the fall.
>Edil Baisalov, head of a prominent non-governmental organization that
>monitored the disputed elections, told The Associated Press that a new
>presidential
>vote might occur in May or June, to be followed later by parliamentary
>elections.
>The opposition accused the 60-year-old Akayev, who was prohibited from
>seeking another term, of manipulating the parliamentary vote to gain a
>compliant
>legislature that would amend the constitution so he could stay in office
>beyond an October presidential election. Akayev has denied that.
>Akayev was long regarded as a reform-minded leader, but in recent years he
>turned more authoritarian. In 2002, his reputation was tarnished after
>police
>killed six demonstrators protesting the arrest of an opposition lawmaker.
>''I am very happy because for 15 years we've been seeing the same ugly
>face
>that has been shamelessly smiling at us,'' said Abdikasim Kamalov, holding
>a
>red Kyrgyz flag outside the presidential building. ''We could no longer
>tolerate this. We want changes.''
>AP reporter Bagila Bukharbayeva contributed to this story from Bishkek.
>AP-NY-03-24-05 15:20 EST
>
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