BISHKEK, April 11: Thousands of opposition activists called on President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to resign and booed at the prime minister when he addressed the crowd in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on Wednesday.

The demonstration is the latest challenge to Bakiyev’s turbulent year-and-a-half rule of the impoverished Central Asian state which houses both a Russian and a US military airbase, the latter used for operations in nearby Afghanistan.

Up to 6,000 protesters, many wearing blue bandanas of the opposition United Front for a Decent Future for Kyrgyzstan or waving red Kyrgyz flags, chanted “Bakiyev out”.

“We gathered here today not to seize power by any means but to clean up the authorities,” opposition leader Felix Kulov, who until December served as Bakiyev’s prime minister, told the crowd.

On the eve of the protest Bakiyev accused those organising the demonstration of planning a coup. —Reuters