[Peace-discuss] The Long War widens?

[C. G. Estabrook]

	April 14 2010
	Kyrgyzstan could be "second Afghanistan" - Medvedev

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan stands on the brink of civil war and 
threatens to become a "second Afghanistan," Russian President Dmitry 
Medvedev said on Tuesday.

"As I understand it, Kyrgyzstan is on the verge of civil war," Medvedev 
told an audience at a think tank in Washington, where he was attending 
the global nuclear security summit.

Medvedev said there was a real risk Kyrgyzstan could split in two as 
tensions persist after an uprising last week that ousted President 
Kurmanbek Bakiyev and installed an interim government.

"Our task is to help the Kyrygz people find a calm way out of this 
crisis," Medvedev said, suggesting Bakiyev should formally step down to 
defuse a crisis he said could develop into a "second Afghanistan".

"Certain political figures should take responsible decisions," Medvedev 
said in his remarks at the Brookings Institution.

Bakiyev said on Tuesday he might resign if the interim government 
guaranteed his safety and calmed the turmoil following the revolt 
against his five-year rule in the central Asian country, which plays 
host to a U.S. air base key to the war in Afghanistan.

Since fleeing the capital after troops fired on demonstrators in an 
uprising last Wednesday that brought his opponents to power, Bakiyev had 
warned of a blood bath, refused to resign and tried to rally followers 
in his southern stronghold.

The self-proclaimed government headed by Roza Otunbayeva has said Russia 
is its key ally, casting doubts over the future of the U.S.-leased Manas 
air base -- long a subject of Russian objections.

Medvedev suggested that Russia was not behind any plot to oust the U.S. 
base.

"When I met with President Bakiyev, I always told him it is necessary to 
help our American partners in solving problems in Afghanistan -- the 
question is how to give this help, how effective it is," Medvedev said.

The Russian president added any decision on the future base would be 
that of Kyrgyzstan alone.

"How could Russia come to oppose the sovereign decision of another 
state? It is their decision whether we like it or not," he said.

Reporting by Steve Gutterman; Writing by Andrew Quinn; Editing by Peter 
Cooney

Source: Reuters

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