Ex-president is fuelling violence: Kyrgyz envoy

Kygyz ambassador in Pakistan Noran Ali blamed the former president of Kyrgyzstan for creating instability in the country.

The former president of Kyrgyzstan and his political supporters are using organised criminal elements to create instability in the south of the country, alleged the acting ambassador of Kyrgyzstan in Pakistan Noran S Niaz Ali on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Daily Express at the Kyrgyz embassy, Ali said the riots had nothing to do with civil war or ethnic problems, and were only a conspiracy to destabilise the country.

Talking about the safety of Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan, the acting ambassador said that only one Pakistani student, Ali Raza, had been killed in the country. He said Ali had been killed by a stray bullet, and revealed that he had spoken to Ali’s family to offer his condolences. Ali’s death was not the result of a target killing, he added.

Ali expressed his appreciation for aid sent by Pakistan to Kyrgyzstan, and said that while political relations between the two nations were amicable, improvements in economic cooperation and trade were needed. He said he hoped that the situation in Kyrgyzstan will improve soon so that Pakistani students could complete their education.

He said about 1,500 Pakistani students are studying in Kyrgyzstan, mostly in medical and engineering fields, because Kyrgyz education is economical and of a high standard. He said many Pakistani students had already returned home after completing their studies while many others had married in Kyrgyzstan and were settled there. He said Kyrgyz universities were currently on summer break, which is why there were fewer Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan these days.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2010.