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Lukashenka says that he will not extradite ousted Kyrgyz leader

Alyaksandr Lukashenka has dismissed the possibility that he would grant an extradition request for ousted Kyrgyz leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev who has taken refuge in Belarus after being overthrown in a violent uprising last month, BelaPAN reports.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, the Belarusian leader said that no extradition request for Mr. Bakiyev had been officially sent to Belarus. “But I want to immediately declare officially: Such an appeal would be hopeless and humiliating for the interim government [in Kyrgyzstan],” he said. “The president of Kyrgyzstan is under the protection of the Belarusian state and its president.”

“They have 1,000 problems, do they need a 1,001st problem? If the current president of Kyrgyzstan appears there, it will be such a problem,” Mr. Lukashenka stressed. “The interim government of Kyrgyzstan should bow to the ground and thank me for removing the 1,001st problem for Kyrgyzstan. The situation there is under very little control as it is.”