Minsk refuses to extradite Bakiyev

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, June 15 (UPI) -- The government in Belarus said Tuesday it was refusing a Kyrgyz request to extradite deposed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev citing political issues.

Bakiyev fled his safe-haven in the Kyrgyz south to Belarus in April following a violent standoff that deposed him from power.

The interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva called for his arrest, charging him with murder and abuse of power.

The interim government said there was a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Bakiyev and other top government officials. His son, Maksim, was arrested Tuesday on charges he was inciting ethnic clashes in the Kyrgyz south in an effort to return his father to power.

Azimbek Beknazarov, a deputy official in the interim government in Bishkek, told the Bishkek bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the government in Belarus was refusing the extradition request for the deposed president.

He said the Minsk government refused the request because it was "politically motivated."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke Tuesday with Otunbayeva regarding the latest outbreak of violence in the Kyrgyz south.

More than 100 people were reported dead in clashes between the ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities in the southern city of Osh.

The United Nations said Ban voiced his deep concern about the violence, calling on all sides to open humanitarian corridors to help the estimated 75,000 people displaced by the conflict.