"International presence needed in Kyrgyzstan"

Germany's foreign minister says he's convinced an international police mission in Kyrgyzstan will go ahead, as senior politicians try to organize the details. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is trying to finalize the details of an international police presence in Kyrgyzstan, as authorities try to restore stability after a government overthrow in April and ethnic violence in June which claimed some 2,000 lives. "International presence needed in Kyrgyzstan" "We are convinced that this police mission, which we need to stabilize the situation in Kyrgyzstan, will take place," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in the run up to the informal meetings of OSCE foreign ministers in nearby Kazakhstan on Saturday. "I am under the impression that many colleagues here see this the same way." A police mission in the country still needs the official approval of the OSCE member states, with a final decision possible at the weekend meeting in Almaty. The police advisory group currently being discussed by the OSCE would only be concerned with maintaining the fragile peace in the country; 52 officers would be sent for the first four months, with the option for a further 50 after time. "The tasks of this mission are first of all advising the Kyrgyz police," said the head of the OSCE conflict prevention center, Herbert Salber. "They will be assisting, and also monitoring, the Kyrgyz police." Kyrgystan's interim president Rosa Otunbayeva, who was swept to power in public revolts in April, agrees with the need for a police mission, although she said the mandate needed to be precisely clarified. Wersterwelle - along with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner - also threw his weight behind an international probe into the causes of last month's deadly violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of Kyrgyzstan. The two diplomats visited the city of Osh, which was the epicenter of the unrest, on Friday, issuing a joint statement afterwards which said: "The aftermath of the violence and destruction is overwhelming." The clashes were the culmination of repeated unrest and the mass displacement of citizens which began during the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in early April. Otunbayeva's interim government is promising elections in October, and is seeking to reform the country into a parliamentary democracy, in a region where autocratic governments are more commonplace.

"International presence needed in Kyrgyzstan"

"We are convinced that this police mission, which we need to stabilize the situation in Kyrgyzstan, will take place," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in the run up to the informal meetings of OSCE foreign ministers in nearby Kazakhstan on Saturday.

"I am under the impression that many colleagues here see this the same way."

A police mission in the country still needs the official approval of the OSCE member states, with a final decision possible at the weekend meeting in Almaty.

The police advisory group currently being discussed by the OSCE would only be concerned with maintaining the fragile peace in the country; 52 officers would be sent for the first four months, with the option for a further 50 after time.

"The tasks of this mission are first of all advising the Kyrgyz police," said the head of the OSCE conflict prevention center, Herbert Salber. "They will be assisting, and also monitoring, the Kyrgyz police."

Kyrgystan's interim president Rosa Otunbayeva, who was swept to power in public revolts in April, agrees with the need for a police mission, although she said the mandate needed to be precisely clarified.

Wersterwelle - along with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner - also threw his weight behind an international probe into the causes of last month's deadly violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of Kyrgyzstan.

The two diplomats visited the city of Osh, which was the epicenter of the unrest, on Friday, issuing a joint statement afterwards which said: "The aftermath of the violence and destruction is overwhelming."

The clashes were the culmination of repeated unrest and the mass displacement of citizens which began during the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in early April.

Otunbayeva's interim government is promising elections in October, and is seeking to reform the country into a parliamentary democracy, in a region where autocratic governments are more commonplace.