Ousted Kyrgyz leader insists he is still president

Kyrgyzstan's ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev said that he was still the rightful leader of his country, speaking to reporters in Belarus, where he took refuge earlier this week.

Kyrgyzstan's ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Wednesday that he was still the rightful leader of his country, speaking to reporters in Belarus, where he took refuge earlier this week.

HT Image

"I, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, am the legally elected president of Kyrgyzstan and recognised by the international community," he said.

"I do not recognise my resignation. Nine months ago the people of Kyrgyzstan elected me their president and there is no power that can stop me. Only death can stop me," Bakiyev said in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

Bakiyev was toppled by a popular uprising in Kyrgyzstan two weeks ago that brought a new interim government to power in the former Soviet republic.