Kyrgyzstan president sworn in for second term

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sworn in on Sunday for his second term in office, media reports said.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sworn in on Sunday for his second term in office, media reports said.

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Bakiyev was re-elected in the country's presidential election July 23, winning 76.12 percent of the votes.

The main opposition candidate, Almazbek Atambayev, garnered only 8.41 percent of the votes, according to results announced by the country's Central Election Commission.

It was the fifth general election of the country since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Bakiyev, who turned 60 Saturday, will serve a new term of five years, as per the country's amended constitution.

Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia, is at the heart of a Russian-US contest for control over the strategically important region near Afghanistan.

Both Russia and the US now operate military bases in this former Soviet republic.