Lukashenka comes to defence of Bakiyev: He had a right to shoot at people

• 15.04.2010, 15:52

Alyaksandr Lukashenka repudiated charges against President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev related to April events.

As informed by BelTA, Lukashenka stated in particular, that the leadership of the country had a right to use force against rebels.

"Bakiyev should not be blamed for the government committing acts of coercion to defend itself," the Belarusian leader stated. "If the government cannot defend itself and its people, what is the use of such a government?" "If the same things happened in my country and somebody would lead people under fire, no one would find it funny," he added.

Commenting on the events in Kyrgyzstan, Lukashenka called statements that Bakiyev "had plundered the country" groundless. As said by the Bel;arusian ruler, his Kyrgys collegue was "rushing about in different countries begging for loans" and invested the money in hydroelectric station construction.

Speaking about the international response to the events in Kyrgyzstan, Lukashenka stated that he finds the position of Russia and the US "bad and short-sighted". To his mind, both Moscow and Washington should have condemn the overthrow in the country, but failed to do so. "The US keeps silent, and Russia has made statements, you know what kind of statements they are," Lukashenka said. We remind that Moscow and Washington in fact have supported the change of power in Kyrgyzstan and recoghnized the new leadership of the country (despite of the fact that President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has not abnegated powers yet).

And finally Lukashenka touched upon the topic of preparation to the coup d'etat in Kyrgyzstan. He noted that he does not know what forces were behind the recent events in the country, but expressed certitude that information is to surface some time. A number of observers earlier supposed that the change of power in Kyrgyzstan is beneficial for Russia (which in particular wants to oust the US military base from the country).