Protestors attack Kyrgyz minister

OSH, Kyrgyzstan — Around three thousand anti-government protestors rallied in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh on Friday, attacking a government minister and demanding the resignation of the country's president.An AFP correspondent saw protestors, who were rallying outside the city administration building in support of their controversial mayor, beat up Labour Minister Aigul Ryskulova, who had been sent to calm the crowd.She was later seen escaping in a car.The protestors had gathered with a demand to speak with Osh Mayor Melis Myrzakhmatov, an outspoken critic of the central government in Bishkek, as rumours that he had been sacked swirled throughout the city.He had not been heard from since attending meetings with the government in the capital earlier this week.But Myrzakhmatov returned to Osh in dramatic fashion at midday Friday and in a fiery speech to the protestors said he had been detained for three days by the government in Bishkek, who had demanded his resignation."I am not going anywhere from my post and I will stay with you and work with you for the future prosperity of Osh," he shouted to loud applause from the crowd.Meanwhile Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva issued a statement playing down the importance of the protest, as well as a denial that the government had tried to sack increasingly-independent and popular Myrzakhmatov."The situation in (Osh) is not particularly worrisome. Demonstrators have demanded the mayor be returned to his office, although no decree has been issued relieving him from his post," said presidential spokesman Farid Niyazov.Kyrgyzstan, ex-Soviet Central Asia's most politically volatile state, has been wracked by political and ethnic violence since the overthrow of president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in popular protests in April.Osh, the second largest city in the impoverished country, was at the centre of ethnic clashes between majority ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in June that saw around 400 people killed, according to the official toll, and 400,000 displaced. Cop

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