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Deposed Kyrgyz Leader Vows Not to Return

   VOA News 23 April 2010

   Kyrgyzstan's  ousted president says from exile in Belarus that he will
   not return to his homeland as its leader.
   Kurmanbek  Bakiyev told reporters Friday in Minsk that he has signed a
   letter of resignation. Â
   Mr. Bakiyev also said he had irritated Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
   Putin  and  Russian  President Dmitry Medvedev by allowing the U.S. to
   have  access  to  the  Manas  airbase, a key support facility for NATO
   operations  in  Afghanistan.   He  said both Russian leaders told him
   "this annoys us."
   Russia also maintains a military base in Kyrgyzstan.
   Mr.  Bakiyev had insisted earlier this week that that he was still the
   rightful Kyrgyz president.  Â
   Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva had said the ousted president's remarks
   about  holding  on  to  the  presidency  were  the  "bravado  of a man
   agonizing over his own helplessness."
   Mr.  Bakiyev  fled  to  Minsk,  via Kazakhstan, several days after the
   April 7 uprising against his five-year rule.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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