Kyrgyz unrest victims mourned daylong

Thousands of grieving, angry mourners flooded Bishkek's main square yesterday to honour victims of Kyrgyzstan's revolt -- with many blaming the country's absent president for ordering troops to fire on those protesting his government.
They gathered on the sprawling Ala-Too Square, where protesters were shot dead at an opposition rally as some stormed the main government building in this Central Asian nation.
The health ministry of the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation said yesterday that 76 people had died in the violence and more than 1,400 injured. That figure included 67 people injured overnight Thursday and early yesterday in clashes between looters and security forces backed by vigilantes.
Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister who once backed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and now leads the opposition interim government, visited a Bishkek hospital on Friday and said she and her comrades would not negotiate with Bakiyev, who has fled to the country's south where he has substantial clan support.
In the square, people were sobbing for the lives lost.
"We grieve over our heroes. They are real heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the future of Kyrgyzstan," said Khatima Immamaliyeva, a 44-year-old office worker holding a red carnation and crying. "Bakiyev must bear responsibility for the deaths."
Another mourner, 26-year-old Azimbek Sariyev, said "my friend Talas perished. I hope he hasn't died for nothing. We have ousted Bakiyev, and won't allow the rulers to mock us."
Kyrgyzstan also hosts a Russian military base and is the only nation where both Cold War foes have bases.
The deputy head of the interim government, Almazbek Atambayev, was flying to Moscow on Friday to talk with unspecified Russian government officials.