Official: Kyrgyz President Bakiyev leaves Kazakhstan for unknown destination

Official: Kyrgyz president leaves Kazakhstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Officials in Kazakhstan say the deposed president of Kyrgyzstan has left their country, where he had sought refuge in the wake of the bloody uprising in his nation.

Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilyas Omarov told The Associated Press that Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev departed Kazakhstan for an unknown destination on Monday.

The authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said Sunday that Bakiyev would be welcome in his country. Welcoming Bakiyev could exacerbate Belarus’ tensions with the West as well as its difficult relations with neighboring Russia.

Another possible destination is the United Arab Emirates, where Bakiyev is thought to own property.

Bakiyev left Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan on Thursday after he was driven from power in a violent revolt.