Kyrgyz NGO Leader Reportedly Shot, Wounded
BISHKEK, April 12, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Edil Baisalov, the leader of the
nongovernmental organization coalition For Democracy and Civil Society,
was attacked today in Bishkek.
Baisalov is in the hospital where doctors are operating on him. Witnesses said Baisalov appeared to have been shot.
After visiting Baisalov in the hospital, Prime Minister Feliks Kulov said
there was "no doubt of the political undertones of this assassination
attempt".
"The
people who are trying to do things like this -- their aim is not simply
to kill but to create fear," Kulov said. "The outcome was not
important, whether they killed or not. What was important was to
create fear."
Parliament deputy Melis Eshimkanov visited
Baisalov at the hospital and told RFE/RL that Baisalov believed he was
being followed.
"Just yesterday [April 11] I spoke with Edil
[Baisalov] and he said that in the last few days he felt someone was
constantly watching him and his car was always being followed by
several vehicles," Eshimkanov said. "He asked us for help with
security. Deputy Kubatbek Baibolov and I asked the Interior Ministry
today about this, but the matter still hadnt been decided."
Baisalov has been organizing demonstrations against allowing criminal figures to serve in the government.
(RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, with ITAR-TASS, Interfax)