Kyrgyzstan's new leadership said on Friday it had control over the armed forces and would do everything to prevent a civil war in the Central Asian country which hosts both US and Russian air bases. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads a provisional government so far recognized only by Russia, offered President Kurmanbek Bakiyev safe passage from the country after accusing his supporters of stoking a violent response to an uprising that ousted him. "We have enough resources and capabilities and all the people's support that we need," Otunbayeva said. "All armed forces are under our control." "We will do everything possible to prevent civil war." Otunbayeva led opposition to Bakiyev in Wednesday's uprising, which has brought the former Soviet republic closer to Moscow and raised doubts about the future of the U.S. Manas air base, a vital cog in NATO military operations in Afghanistan. "Bakiyev has the opportunity to leave the country," Otunbayeva told reporters. "We will guarantee his security, only his personal security, if he resigns." The US Manas air base resumed normal operations on Friday, a spokesman at the base said, after cutting flights back flights because of the violence nearby in the capital Bishkek. However, personnel have not been allowed to leave the base since the trouble began, a spokesman for the US military's Central Command in Washington said. Pentagon officials say Manas is central to the war effort against the Talaban, allowing around-the-clock flights in and out of neighboring Afghanistan with about 50,000 troops passing through last month alone. However, the new Kyrgyz leadership has said it might shorten the US lease. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was quick to offer aid to the new Krygyz rulers, who have said Moscow had helped to oust Bakiyev. "The biggest evidence of a Russian hand in the coup is the fact the Russians were so quick off the mark to recognize the new regime, while the US and China were still trying to figure out what's going on," said Nick Day, chief executive of business intelligence firm Diligence LLC. The uprising was sparked by discontent over corruption, nepotism and rising utility prices. A third of the population live below the poverty line. Remittances from the 800,000 Kyrgyz working in Russia make up about 40 percent of Kyrgyzstan's GDP. Bakiyev fled to the south of the country, where he has traditional support in the regions of Osh and Jalalabad, while his security forces fired on protesters besieging the government building in the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday. "(Bakiyev's) forces are not preparing to surrender. You can see how many incidents of violence there are around the city orchestrated by their side, by Bakiyev's supporters," Otunbayeva said. "We have information that there were several bombs planted in three public places in Bishkek." Vigilante groups organized by the self-proclaimed government spent the night battling looters in Bishkek to return calm to the city, where at least 75 people died in Wednesday's clashes. The uprising is likely to lead to fresh haggling over the U.S. Manas air base, which has provided a lucrative source of income to Kyrgyzstan's governments. A senior Russian official, who declined to be named, said on Thursday that Bakiyev had not kept a promise to shut the U.S. base and Kyrgyzstan should have only a Russian air base. Omurbek Tekebayev, a former Kyrgyz opposition leader in the provisional government, said on Thursday that the duration of the U.S. air base's presence could be shortened. But James Nixey, analyst at think tank Chatham House, said concern about the continuation of US operations from the Manas airbase was probably unfounded. "Any future Kyrgyz government will need the money and shoulder the political flak," he said.
