RIOT police broke up opposition protests in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, yesterday as the new Interior Minister said that he may use force to quell the unrest gripping the Central Asian nation.

President Akayev dismissed the previous Interior Minister and the Prosecutor-General for letting the Opposition seize southern cities in protest at disputed parliamentary elections.

They want a “lemon” revolution inspired by the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia Mr Akayev had promised on Tuesday not to use force to end the crisis, which he sees as a Western-funded plot to stir another revolution in the former Soviet Union, but Keneshbek Dushebayev, the new Interior Minister, said: “The law gives us every right to take action, including using physical force, special means and firearms.

“We will not shoot at peace-loving, law-abiding citizens — women, old people, children — but peace-loving citizens would never take over government buildings.”

The hardline approach of the former Bishkek police chief was evident when 200 opposition supporters gathered in the centre of the city, shouting anti-Akayev slogans. Riot police in camouflage gear and white helmets charged in, beating and kicking some protesters and detaining several dozen ringleaders.

Edil Baisalov, head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, was among those pushed on to buses and taken to a police station for questioning. “The new police chief wants to show he’s a tough guy — the level of tolerance is definitely getting lower,” he said. Mr Baisalov promised further protests in Bishkek today.

This week police fled when opposition supporters armed with petrol bombs stormed government and police headquarters in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad, which they now control.

The stand-off has led to fears of civil war between the poor south, which has large Uzbek and Tajik populations, and the wealthier north, which is dominated by ethnic Kyrgyz. It has widened a rift between Russia and the West, which accuse each other of meddling in elections in the former Soviet Union for geopolitical gains.

Kyrgyzstan is mountainous, has few natural resources and only five million people. It shares a border with China and hosts Russian and US military bases. Russia has accused the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe of stoking unrest by declaring the election undemocratic. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, told Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, yesterday that his statements on the crisis “could be used by the opposition to increase tensions”.

Nikolai Tanayev, the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, is expected to travel to Osh today to negotiate with the Opposition. Osmonakun Ibraimov, the country’s Secretary of State and a close ally of Mr Akayev, told The Times that the Government favoured a peaceful solution. “The only way to solve this problem is through negotiations with the Opposition,” he said.

Mr Akayev would never agree to demands to resign, he said. Mr Akayev has said that he will step down for a presidential election in October in the first democratic transition of power in Central Asia.

The Opposition accuses him of cramming parliament with relatives, including his son and daughter, and allies who could change the Constitution to prolong his rule.

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