Policemen in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, stopped picketing the building of the interim government and returned to their duties as a new minister of interior affairs was appointed.
Bishkek police forces went on strike demanding the resignation of the acting Interior Minister Bolot Sherniyazov and the appointment of a new one.
"The interim government has agreed to meet our demands and to appoint a new interior minister," Aibek Abdrazakov, a police negotiator, said adding that Bolot Alymbekov, a former deputy minister, had been appointed to head the ministry.
He said that the police forces of Bishkek are "satisfied" and would immediately return to their duties.
The situation in Bishkek remains tense, although ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev fled the capital on April 7 amid violent protests and the opposition assumed power. Bakiyev holed up in the southern city of Jalabad, until finally fleeing the country to Kazakhstan last week. But on Monday, a Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had left Kazakhstan to an unknown destination.
A wave of new violence engulfed the suburbs of the country's capital again on Monday, when some 2,000 people armed with sticks, stones and torches set several cars on fire and threw rocks at houses in nearby villages.
They tried to seize some 700 hectares of land outside Bishkek, saying it was their land for construction of their houses, but the landowners drove them out of the area. The rioters then moved toward the capital, but were stopped by police. After negotiations with the head of the municipal administration they decided not to enter the city.
Unrest has also sparked again in the southern region, where ousted Bakiyev supporters stormed the police department, the Kyrgyz 24.kg news agency reported on Monday.
"They [Bakiyev supporters] are throwing Molotov cocktails at the building and the police have fired warning shots out the window into the air," the agency reported.
BISHKEK, April 19 (RIA Novosti)
