Ukraine Offers to Mediate in Kyrgyz Crisis

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine on Thursday offered to mediate in the crisis in the fellow ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, where mass opposition protests have left a Soviet-era regime teetering on the brink of collapse.

"Ukraine is ready to provide its services as an intermediary to reestablish civil order in Kyrgyz society," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.



Mass opposition demonstrations swept aside a Moscow-friendly regime in Ukraine at the end of last year, after an election that the opposition said was rigged in favor of pro-presidential forces.

Likewise Kyrgyzstan has been wracked by demonstrations following a March 13 runoff vote that saw the opposition nearly shut out of the nation's 75-seat parliament.

The demonstrations culminated on Thursday, when thousands of rock-throwing, club-wielding opposition supporters overran the government's main seat of power in the capital.

Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev has fled the country and his prime minister, Nikolai Tanayev, was reported to have resigned following the storming.