Kyrgyz president has left the country: Interfax

MOSCOW - Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev and his family have left the country, Interfax reported Thursday amid conflicting reports on the whereabouts of the Central Asian nation`s veteran leader.
Citing unnamed sources in the interior ministry, the news agency said that a helicopter with Akayev presumably on board has left for Russia, while another, carrying his family, left for neighboring Kazakhstan.
The whereabouts of 60-year-old Akayev -- who has ruled this normally sleepy mountainous nation since 1990 and is considered the most liberal ruler in ex-Soviet Central Asia -- had been unknown since thousands of opposition supporters armed with rocks and clubs took over Kyrgyzstan`s main seat of power.

03/24/2005 14:34 GMT