Bishkek, 17 April 1997 (RFE/RL) - Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev signed a decree today appointing Felix Kulov as Security Minister.
Kulov replaces Kanybek ImamAliyev who was injured in an automobile accident last October and has been in a coma since.
Kulov is best known for opposing demands from hardline communists that Akayev be replaced during the 1991 coup attempt against then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow.
Kulov later became vice president in 1992 but resigned in late 1993 as a protest against then Prime Minsiter Tursunbek Chyngyshev who was accused of corruption. The office of vice president was then abolished.
Since 1994, Kulov has been governor of Kyrgyzstan's northern Chu region.