BISHKEK - Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev`s autocratic regime collapsed in turmoil Thursday, leaving opposition leaders to take control after thousands of their supporters stormed the seat of government in a show of raw people power.
Amid reports that Akayev had fled the country, parliament named its speaker Ishenbai Kadyrbekov as interim president, Russian news agencies reported citing deputies who attended the closed session.
They said Kurmanbek Bakiyev, one of the top opposition leaders, will head a coordinating council of national unity acting as a temporary government.
In a day of dramatic developments, crowds earlier stormed the White House compound housing the government and presidency and seized control of the main television station.
"Askar Akayev right now is not on Kyrgyz soil," Bakiyev said on television, confirming earlier reports that he had fled the Central Asian nation.
He said Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev had resigned, and the Supreme Court announced that it had annulled results of the parliamentary election on March 13 which had sparked the escalating opposition protests.
Amid unprecedented scenes, the protesters also freed Felix Kulov, a former vice president jailed in 2000 and who many now believe will become the leader of the fractious opposition.
"Let`s keep the peace, let`s not lose our head," he said into a megaphone, addressing some 4,000 people on the steps of the White House. "I want to thank you that you weren`t afraid and were peaceful and civilized."
He was later appointed as chief of the security and defense ministries by parliament.
In the confusion, there was no confirmation of the whereabouts of Akayev, a 60-year-old veteran who has ruled the former Soviet republic for 15 years.
His officials said they did not know where he was, while Interfax reported that he had flown to neighbouring Kazakhstan with his family.
The European security body OSCE, whose envoy was earlier reported to be in talks with Akayev, also said it did not know his location.
From early morning, protesters began gathering for the biggest opposition show of force in the capital Bishkek to date.
Police, some of them on horseback, repeatedly charged the demonstrators as they neared the White House, but the crowd kept surging forward and soon swept past the overwhelmed security forces into the White House.
At one point, a lone rider on a black horse galloped through the crowd with a yellow banner in his hand.
"We have taken control of the presidency!" shouted Bakiyev, cheered on by a crowd wild with excitement after hours of scuffles.
Inside, youths brandishing wooden sticks grabbed juice cans from a vending machine that burst open under the assault. Upstairs, men carried off computers and television sets.
Others went on a rampage, smashing windows and throwing chairs, documents and portraits of Akayev out of the window while waving the national flag.
Protesters, sweaty and fired up by fighting and alcohol, proudly displayed battle trophies of police helmets, bulletproof vests and clubs. Several with bloodied faces tried to staunch the flow with the pink and yellow headbands of the Kyrgyz opposition.
Akayev`s departure sets an unexpected precedent in a turbulent region with an explosive ethnic mix and a tradition of autocratic rule backed by Moscow in the name of stability and the struggle against Islamic extremism.
"If the situation normalizes, these events will have an impact on Central Asian countries by giving them the example of a popular movement that managed to topple the regime in power," said Russian analyst Andrei Gruzin.
Thursday`s events in Bishkek, situated in the north of the country, were a dramatic escalation of opposition protests that until now had been focused on the impoverished and more volatile south.
They followed March 13 parliamentary elections which the opposition claims were rigged by Akayev`s administration in order to pack the assembly with his supporters ahead of presidential elections in October.
The opposition`s presence in the 75-member parliament was nearly wiped out, while his older daughter and son both won seats.
Powerless to intervene, the Russian foreign ministry said the developments were "a cause for serious concern" and urged a return to "a lawful path."
Within the last two years, Russia has seen pro-Moscow regimes swept away in two other former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine, following mass street protests also sparked by disputed elections.
The United States had no official comment on the situation, but ambassador Stephen Young, its envoy in Bishkek, stressed the country`s strategic role and urged Russia and China to pitch in with Washington to help restore stability.

03/24/2005 19:15 GMT