World

Ousted leader denies plan to return home

10:10 am on 24 April 2010

Ousted Kyrgyzstan leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev has said he does not intend to return home to rule as president.

Mr Bakiyev was speaking from Belarus, where he took refuge after being overthrown in an uprising on 7 April in which 85 people died. Hundreds were injured.

He told a news conference in the capital, Minsk, that he had no plans to return to Kyrgyzstan as president or to form a government in exile.

On Thursday, the interim government announced it would hold elections on 10 October, after a constitutional referendum on reducing presidential powers.

Mr Bakiyev arrived in Minsk on Tuesday, after originally fleeing to Kazakhstan.