Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president flies to neighboring Kazakhstan after gunfire erupts at rally

Kyrgyzstan’s deposed president flies to Kazakhstan

TEYIT, Kyrgyzstan — The deposed president of Kyrgyzstan left the country Thursday for neighboring Kazakhstan, just hours after gunfire erupted at a rally where he was speaking to supporters.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s motorcade pulled up to the airport in southern Jalal-Abad before a plane was seen taking off, witnesses said.

Bakiyev flew to the neighboring Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said, calling it an “important step toward stabilization of situation,” according to a statement on its Web site.

Earlier Thursday, Bakiyev himself had told The Associated Press he had met with a representative of the interim government controlling the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and insisted further talks be held on neutral territory, suggesting Kazakhstan.

The provisional government has urged him to leave Kyrgyzstan, warning he would be prosecuted if he did not.

Gunfire broke out earlier Thursday at a rally in the southern city of Osh, where Bakiyev was trying to marshal support among those in his clan power base.

Witnesses said the shots came from his bodyguards who may have been frightened by a group of approaching Bakiyev opponents.

Although there were no reports of injuries, the gunfire underlined the tensions that persist in the second week of the crisis in the ex-Soviet Central Asian country, which hosts a U.S. air base that is key to supporting the war in Afghanistan. Russia also has a military base in Kyrgyzstan.