OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- A committee to defend ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev has been established in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Osh human rights activist Tolon Dyikanbaev told RFE/RL that the newly established committee's main focus will be to explain to people that it believes Bakiev was overthrown illegally and that Kyrgyzstan's interim government is illegitimate.
Dyikanbaev added that the committee will work to secure Bakiev's return from Belarus -- where he is being hosted by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka -- and to enable him to serve out the remainder of the five-year term he was elected to last year.
Bakiev fled from Bishkek after deadly clashes between antigovernment protesters and security forces in the capital on April 7. He later flew to Kazakhstan before moving on to Minsk.