Kyrgyz leadership to control housing provision for all riot victims.

31/8 Tass 116

BISHKEK, August 31 (Itar-Tass) - The Kyrgyz top leaders will take
under their personal control housing provision for all victims of mass
rioting in the country's south last June as well as racial clashes between
ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, living there, President of the transition period
Roza Otunbayeva said here on Tuesday.
"Restoration of devastated areas is one of the most important tasks at
the present stage," she said. "I say with all responsibility that the
supreme leadership of our country will not leave their people in the
deplorable situation".
According to official data, slightly over 400 people had been killed
and 2,300 wounded during the tragic events in the southern Osh and
Dzhalal-Abad regions. Around 2,000 homes and buildings were gutted or
destroyed. According to information from various sources, up to 450
million US dollars will be needed to restore them.
"I personally as the country's president will take under special
control problems of families left homeless as a result of the recent
events," Otunbayeva promised. In the president's opinion, the sides should
display "tolerance in order to preserve peace and accord" over the
post-conflict situation.
The Kyrgyz head of state also reckons that authorities should not
limit themselves only to pinpointing guilty persons and restoration of
destroyed homes and enterprises. "It is more important to determine
prime-root reasons of the past conflict, to study thoroughly and analyse
all prerequisites for those bloody events so as to preclude for good
recurrence of such events," she believes.
Besides, the president called on the public "to stay away from looking
for racial undertones of those events". "People who took the road of
crime, have no nationality," she said with confidence. "Rank-and-file
people, above all, suffered from their criminal schemes: our law
enforcement bodies now industriously work so that criminals were given
appropriate punishment."
-0-bur/usn