BISHKEK/WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Three days after violent unrest broke out in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, the situation began to calm down on Saturday, with opposition parties and ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev making initial contacts.
Saturday witnessed a marked improvement of the security situation in Bishkek, where policemen could be seen regulating traffic along the streets. Some stores were also reopened.
Crowds of people still gathered around the presidential palace, mourning the victims of the unrest, but their looks were rather calm and peaceful.
Also on Saturday, Zhanybek Karibzhanov, an envoy of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), urged the interim government to hold talks with Bakiyev, saying the two sides were making their "first contacts."
"We are discussing the issue of talks between the two conflicting sides with the leadership of the provisional government and we know that it is ready for talks and the first contacts have taken place," the envoy was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
However, Karibzhanov said he did not know the details of the contacts. He also denied any contact with Bakiyev or his aides by representatives of international organizations such as the OSCE.
There were reports on the same day saying the interim government was negotiating about the president's resignation with Bakiyev's close relatives in the southern region of Jalalabad, where Bakiyev's hometown is located.
Earlier this week, thousands of protesters clashed with security forces throughout the country, driving out local governments and seizing government headquarters in Bishkek. At least 79 people died in the unrest.
Bakiyev fled to the south and opposition parties formed an interim government led by Roza Otunbayeva, former foreign minister, on Thursday.
The interim government held a solemn funeral service on Saturday morning for some of the victims killed in the unrest. The funeral was attended by thousands of people and went on peacefully.
Otunbayeva said on Saturday night that Bakiyev, who so far has refused to resign, might be deprived of immunity.
In a statement on Saturday, the U.S. State Department said Otunbayeva had confirmed that her administration would abide by previous agreements with Washington on the Manas airport, where a U.S. military base is located.
The statement said Otunbayeva made the commitment in a phone conservation with U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton on Saturday.
"The Secretary is dispatching Assistant Secretary Robert Blake out to Kyrgyzstan to follow up on her discussion," said the statement.
The Interior Ministry of the Kyrgyz interim government on Saturday called on people to voluntarily turn over weapons and ammunition.
According to a statement by the ministry's press service, at least 100 guns of various types, 11,000 bullets, some grenades and bombs disappeared during this week's unrest across the country.
