Bishkek balks on OSCE mission

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The interim government of Kyrgyzstan is contemplating the deployment of an international police force in the country, a spokesman said.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe agreed to deploy an unarmed police advisory group to southern Kyrgyzstan following deadly ethnic clashes in June.

Violence between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs erupted in early June in the southern Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Jalal Abad following an April coup. Red Cross officials said the death toll from the violence may be several hundred people while U.N. estimates put the number of injured in the thousands.

The OSCE said Bishkek called for a multinational force of unarmed police advisers to help stabilize southern Kyrgyzstan.

Avlanbek Jumabaev, a spokesman for the Kyrgyz government, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Bishkek wasn't satisfied with the terms of the deployment.

"The memorandum should have been signed by the end of August. However, consultative talks have not finished yet," the spokesman said. "Most importantly, Kyrgyzstan has not been satisfied with the draft (memorandum) prepared by the OSCE's secretariat."

Hundreds of people poured into the streets of southern Kyrgyzstan to protest the presence of the OSCE police group in July.