Deposed Kyrgyz Leader Resigns, Bolts

The deposed president of Kyrgyzstan left the country today for neighboring Kazakhstan after signing a formal letter of resignation. The move allays fears of new violence in the Central Asian nation that hosts a key US military base supporting the war in Afghanistan. All flights there have resumed. Kazakhstan said the presidents of the US and Russia helped arrange for Kurmanbek Bakiyev to leave.

"He had to leave the country because he was afraid of people's justice," said the deputy head of the interim government. Bakiyev's efforts to gather support in Kyrgyzstan's south, his clan power base, suffered a severe blow earlier today when he tried to speak to a rally in Osh, the region's biggest city. Within a few moments of his taking the stage, gunfire split the air and he was hustled into a car and driven away. (More Kyrgyzstan stories.)