Premier's Supporters Rally In Kyrgyzstan

Demonstrators called on the country's leadership to keep criminals out of government and carry out constitutional reforms.

Organizers said they staged the event to counter a nearly weeklong protest demanding Kulov's resignation.

Demonstrators who assembled in Bishkek's central square today, some of them from Kulov's Ar-Namys party, said the anti-Kulov protest was organized by criminal elements in the society.

The death of a member of parliament during a prison riot last week sparked the anti-Kulov demonstration.

The dead lawmaker's brother, who has been reputed locally to have ties to criminal groups, organized the anti-Kulov protests.

The anti-Kulov protest ended yesterday after President Kurmanbek Bakiev negotiated with the demonstrators.

For a biography of Feliks Kulov, click here.