Brother of deposed president is detained

A BROTHER of deposed Kyrgyzstan president Kurmanbek Bakiyev has been detained amid the latest efforts to solidify control over the country's tense south and dismantle the former leader's entourage.

Hopes for sustained peace were further bolstered when the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe announced it would send an international police force to the southern region of the Central Asian nation.

Akhmat Bakiyev was captured late on Wednesday night in a special operation outside the family's political stronghold in the city of Jalal-Abad, which was ravaged last month by violence against ethnic Uzbeks.

Police said Bakiyev immediately confessed to involvement in the unrest, which was sparked by small clashes in the nearby city of Osh that swelled into devastating rampages by ethnic Kyrgyz mobs on Uzbek neighbourhoods. The violence left hundreds of minority Uzbeks dead and forced 400,000 others to flee.

The violence had political overtones as many southern Kyrgyz backed Mr Bakiyev, who was ousted in a bloody revolt in April, while ethnic Uzbeks supported the interim government.

The latest arrest raised the possibility of fresh violence but also showed the government was determined to halt months of turmoil. A caretaker government is now leading the country until elections in October.

The interim government has offered cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of Mr Bakiyev's fugitive colleagues, including former prime minister Daniyar Usenov. The rewards of 13,000 to 66,000 are colossal in a country where the average monthly salary is 85.

This week, Nurlan Temirbayev the former deputy of the state guard service, turned himself in. He was wanted on charges of murder and abuse of office.