News Directory

Kyrgyzstan No Need for Peace Force

Bishkek, KOMPAS.com - Kyrgyzstan no longer see the need for a force of peace in the midst of the decline of ethnic unrest in the country. The country's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva also said that the constitutional refenrendum will still take place June 27.

"There is no need to send peacekeeping forces," Otunbayeva said at a news conference. "We hope to resolve this situation with our own forces," he added.

Otunbayeva said inter-ethnic clashes that resulted in 170 people have died in the last five days in the south of the country had subsided. He added that a planned referendum conducted on June 27 as part of constitutional reforms after the overthrow of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev will be done according to plan. "We will fight until the last minute to ensure the referendum remains in progress," he said.

Otunbayeva this week asked the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, sent a military force, saying that the situation in the south of the country out of control.