Bakiev Agrees To Meet With Anti-Kulov Demonstrators

Slain deputy Tynychbek Akmatbaev in parliament (RFE/RL) Bishkek, 26 October 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev says he is ready to meet a delegation representing protesters calling for the prime minister to be fired.
Bakiev told reporters today that the demands of the protesters are severe, but that he is ready to meet the delegation tomorrow.

Some 300 demonstrators gathered for a fifth day today in Bishkek, calling for Prime Minister Feliks Kulov to step down.

They hold Kulov responsible for the death of lawmaker Tynychbek Akmatbaev, who was killed in a prison riot last week.

Bakiev said today that if the prime minister or any other official is found to have been involved in wrongdoing, what he called "adequate decisions" will be taken.

Some 1,000 people demonstrated nearby in support of Kulov. Kulov denies any involvement in the killing. Kyrgyz legislators have established a commission to investigate Akmatbaev's death.

He was the third Kyrgyz lawmaker to have been killed since March.

(RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, AFP, Reuters)