Askar Akayev

President Askar A. Akayev of Kyrgyzstan has won overwhelming control of his nation's parliament, according to preliminary results announced Monday in runoff elections carrying broad implications for democracy in Central Asia. Akayev, 60, has been president since 1990, when Kyrgyzstan was still part of the Soviet Union. He is viewed as one of the less authoritarian leaders in a part of the world known for strongman rule.

President Askar A. Akayev on Monday ordered a probe into alleged election violations that have triggered demands for his resignation and weeks of increasingly violent protests across this former Soviet republic. Police, security forces and local officials in Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city, fled Monday in the face of about 2,000 demonstrators, some armed with clubs and Molotov cocktails, who seized the governor's office, regional police and security stations and the airport.

Ousted President Askar A. Akayev, who fled this Central Asian country after protesters took over the main government building Thursday in a popular revolution, reemerged Tuesday in Moscow and gave an apparent boost to the new authorities' bid to consolidate the dramatic political changes. Akayev told Russia's state-run Channel One television that he would be prepared to formally resign "provided I am given appropriate guarantees and if this fully complies with Kyrgyz law."

Kyrgyzstan President Askar A. Akayev has agreed in principle to resign, a move that would clear the way for the nation's revolutionary government to proceed with a new presidential election in June, authorities said Saturday.

The ousted president of Kyrgyzstan said Sunday he had reached agreement with representatives of his nation's parliament on terms for him to officially resign today in a ceremony at the Kyrgyz Embassy here. Askar A. Akayev, who was forced from power last month by a largely nonviolent popular uprising, told reporters at the embassy that he had agreed with the parliamentary delegation on the wording of a four-part resignation protocol.

As salesclerk Lubov Maksimenko helped reopen the only department store in this Central Asian capital that escaped looting after the ouster of President Askar A. Akayev, she mused that no one seemed totally thrilled or terribly angered by his fall. For pro-democracy opponents of the long-ruling leader, "the looting ruined everything." But those who thought he was a good president were disappointed that he had fled to Russia rather than fight the protests that drove him from power, she said.

Askar A. Akayev signed his resignation as Kyrgyzstan's president, lawmakers said, raising hopes of ending political turmoil in the Central Asian country 11 days after he fled protesters storming his offices. Akayev signed his resignation, effective Tuesday, at the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow, a day after meeting with a delegation representing Kyrgyzstan's interim leadership.

Parliament voted to strip ousted President Askar A. Akayev of special privileges as the first president of independent Kyrgyzstan, further diminishing the status of the leader forced to flee to Russia by a popular uprising. Lawmakers again failed to vote on his resignation, postponing a decision until Monday. Since Wednesday, parliament has debated the terms of Akayev's resignation, with some lawmakers saying he should be impeached.

Kyrgyz President Askar A. Akayev vowed to take all possible measures against guerrillas holding 16 hostages, including four Japanese geologists, in the remote south of his mountainous country. In a televised address, Akayev said Kyrgyzstan would do everything in its power to free those kidnapped. "I appeal to the public to remain calm, show a firm spirit and unity, which will be needed to repel the bandits," he said.

President Askar A. Akayev won a huge majority in a constitutional referendum that leaves him in undisputed power in this Central Asian nation. Preliminary results from the weekend vote showed Akayev winning 94.5% support for a draft law to amend the 1993 constitution and significantly strengthen his grip on power.