No ground for involvement in Kyrgyz conflict: Russia

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No ground for involvement in Kyrgyz conflict: Russia

PTI

Russia on Saturday refused to send its forces to Kyrgyzstan as its government

begged Moscow to help control widespread ethnic violence in southern city of Osh

which has left more than 60 people dead and over 800 wounded.

Kremlin said there was no ground for its involvement in the internal conflict.

" This is an internal conflict and so far Russia does not see any ground for its

involvement in resolving it, " Kremlin spokesperson Natalia Timakova was quoted

as saying by ITAR-TASS news agency on Saturday.

As the country's second major city Osh slid into chaos with gun-toting Kyrgyz

gangs attacking the Uzbeks, the interim President Otunbayeva wrote a letter

to President Dmitry Medvedev to airlift troops to control the rampaging mobs.

Earlier, there was growing speculation that Russian forces could respond after

the besieged nation's President sent an SOS to dispatch troops to control the

ethnic violence between the Kyrgyz and the minority Uzbeks through some of the

major regions in the country's south.

Ms. Timakova said Mr. Medvedev, as the rotating president of the CSTO collective

security pact of CIS nations, has called for national security councils-level

consultations on Monday to explore possibility of sending a joint force to

Kyrgyzstan, a member of the post-Soviet military bloc.

The Kremlin spokesperson said President Medvedev, who is fully aware of the

developments, has already consulted with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev,

the rotating president of Organisation of Security and ation in Europe

(OSCE) and CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha.

The Defence Ministry in Moscow earlier ruled out the re-deployment of Russian

troops based at the Manas airbase near capital Bishkek, saying " they have other

duties to perform " .

According Ms. Timakova, Mr. Medvedev has ordered the Health Minister Tatiana

Golikova and Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to render immediate

humanitarian assistance and a Russian Il-76 airliner was being sent to evacuate

seriously injured Kyrgyz nationals to Russia for treatment.

Last night, Ms. Otunbayeva spoke to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and

sought Russian intervention, conceding inability to control the situation in the

south of the country.

The official death toll given out by the health ministry said 63 people had been

killed so far and 838 were wounded. They said hospitals were overflowing with

casualties.

" We need the deployment of military contingents from other countries. We have

asked Russia for this. I have written a letter to this effect to President

Dmitry Medvedev, " interim Kyrgyz head Ms. Otunbayeva was quoted as saying by

ITAR-TASS.

" We are ready to start negotiations with Russia any moment for receiving its

peacekeeping contingent in Osh, " Ms. Otunbayeva had said.

Russia has a pact with its erstwhile republics which can be invoked to send

Russian forces into the countries.

Local media reports said that any CSTO decision would have to be cleared by

Belarus, which has given refuge to deposed Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev,

who is being accused by the interim government of orchestrating the anti-Uzbek

violence in his southern stronghold.

Meanwhile, the interim government has declared a state of emergency and clamped

curfew in another city of Jalalabad, which has 50 per cent Uzbek population.

Osh was reported to be black with smoke as Kyrgyz men, armed with guns and iron

rods attacked houses and businesses of Uzbeks, triggering an exodus by the

minority community towards Uzbekistan.

The interim government sent troops and armour into the bloodied city, which is

the stronghold of ousted president Bakiyev, but they failed to stop the

violence. Air Force helicopters were hovering over the city where violence

continued for the second day.

" The situation in Osh has spun out of control, " Ms. Otunbayeva said in her

communication to Mr. Medvedev, as the three major powers U.S., China and Russia

appealed for restoration of calm.

Both Moscow and Washington have military bases in the former Soviet republic,

located just outside capital Bishkek.

" Attempts to establish law and order and start a dialogue have failed and

fighting and rampaging is continuing with impunity. We need outside forces to

quell the confrontation, " the interim President said.

She also said that there was acute shortage of food and medicines in the

embattled southern Kyrgyzstan after almost all the stores had been looted and

torched.