BISHKEK, March 24: Kyrghyz President Askar Akayev’s regime collapsed in chaos on Thursday amid reports that he had resigned and fled the country after thousands of opposition protesters seized the seat of power. In a day of dramatic developments, crowds stormed the White House compound housing the government and presidency and took control of the main television station. “Askar Akayev right now is not on Kyrghyz soil,” Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a senior opposition leader, said later on television, confirming earlier reports. Bakiyev said Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev also resigned, and the Supreme Court announced that it had annulled results of the parliamentary election on March 13 which had sparked the escalating opposition protests.

Amid unprecedented scenes, the protesters also freed Felix Kulov, a former vice president jailed in 2000 and who many now believe will become the leader of the fractious opposition.

Kulov, who was jailed on corruption charges which many people suspect were politically motivated, had called earlier on Akayev to resign and appealed for calm.

“Let’s keep the peace, let’s not lose our head,” he said into a megaphone, addressing some 4,000 people on the steps of the White House. “I want to thank you that you weren’t afraid and were peaceful and civilized.”

He urged Akayev to “meet opposition leaders in order to peacefully and constitutionally transfer power.”

“If he comes to us, we guarantee the security of him and his family.” Amid the confusion, there was no certainty as to Akayev’s location. Officials in his own office told AFP they did not know where he was.

The European security body OSCE, whose envoy was initially reported to have been in talks with Akayev, also said it did not know his whereabouts.

Interfax reported, without naming its sources, that he had flown to Kazakhstan by helicopter with his family.

Earlier, protesters armed with rocks and clubs swarmed into the Soviet-era White House, sweeping past overwhelmed riot police who swiftly retreated.

Once inside they threw portraits of Akayev out of the windows and waved the flag of Kyrghyzstan.

Thirty people were reported injured, medical officials told AFP.

Addressing a crowd on the steps, Bakiyev said, “If the generals and police come over to our side, we will solve this problem peacefully.”

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted the head of the Supreme Court telling an emergency session of parliament that the judges had annulled the registration of deputies who won in March.

If Akayev has indeed resigned, it is an unexpected precedent in a turbulent region with a centuries-old tradition of autocratic rule, an explosive mix of ethnic groups and strong Islamist influences.—AFP