The new interim government was trying to restore calm to the streets of the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek today after three people were killed and about 100 injured overnight in frenzied looting after yesterday's unexpected popular revolution.

Parliament appointed the opposition leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev as both president and prime minister as an interim measure, after President Askar Akayev's palace was dramatically taken over by demonstrators yesterday and he fled the country.

This morning Mr Bakiyev said that fresh elections would be held in June.

"Freedom has finally come to us," the 55-year-old former prime minister told a crowd in the city's central square.

The revolution was sparked by protests over the disputed results of an election held two weeks ago, but no-one expected Mr Akayev - disliked for salting away a huge personal fortune during his 15 years in office - to relinquish his grip on power so easily.

Felix Kulov, another opposition leader and former vice-president, who was released from prison during yesterday's chaos, was appointed head of law and security. His first task is to restore order, after the country's demoralised police force allowed looters free rein.

This morning, he went on television to order all policemen to "put on uniforms and go to work, otherwise everyone will be fired". Mr Kulov also appealed to Bishkek residents to help restore order. "I will not list the number of looted stores because practically all the stores in the centre have been looted," he said.

MPs met this morning, but were interrupted by youths throwing stones at the Parliament building. Mr Bakiyev then emerged and told about 1,000 demonstrators that he had been appointed "acting prime minister and acting President" and would try to form a Cabinet. The crowd shouted his name in support and he urged opposition supporters not to allow looting.

Mr Bakiyev vowed to fight corruption and the clan mentality that roughly splits the country between north and south. "I will not allow the division of the people into north and south," he said. "We are a united nation."

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, today criticised the "illegitimate" change of power in Kyrgyzstan. "It is regrettable that in a post-Soviet country the conflict was resolved in an illegitimate way and was accompanied by pogroms and human victims," he said on a visit to Armenia.

But he also praised Kyrgyz opposition leaders and said he hoped to establish positive relations with new authorities that emerge there. "We hope that in the future our relations develop in a positive manner for the good of the Russian and Kyrgyz people," Mr Putin said.

The opposition leaders assuming positions of authority in the Central Asian nation were "well known" in Russia and "have contributed greatly to the growth of Russian-Kyrgyz relations", the Russian leader added.

Mr Putin said Moscow would welcome Mr Akayev, the ousted Kyrgyz president, if he wanted to go to Russia. The situation in Kyrgyzstan was the result of the authorities' weakness and social and economic problems, he added.

Mr Akayev's whereabouts remain uncertain today, although unconfirmed reports said he and his family had fled to Kazakhstan after Russia refused to take him.

China has also called for a rapid return to stability in its neighbour following the sudden collapse of Mr Akayev's government. It has had good relations with the deposed president and has sought greater influence in Kyrgyzstan.

"China sincerely hopes the China-Kyrgyzstan good-neighbourly and friendly ties can continue to see a healthy and steady development," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Jan Kubis, secretary general of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe will arrive in Bishkek on Sunday to help restore stability to Kyrgyzstan. He is a fluent Russian speaker and expert on the region and launched a similar diplomatic effort in Ukraine last year. Alojz Peterle, a former Slovenian foreign minister, has already been sent by the OSCE.

Meanwhile, Turkey is sending a plane to Kyrgyzstan today to evacuate its 200 citizens, mostly students as well as Turkish diplomats and the former ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.

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