Premier's Supporters Rally In Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Kulov (file photo) (RFE/RL) Bishkek, 28 October 2005 (RFE/RL) -- More than 1,000 supporters of Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Feliks Kulov gathered in the capital Bishkek today to rally for "Kyrgyzstan Without Criminality," RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.

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.