Ex-Kyrgyz Official Arrested
A former parliament speaker has been arrested in the brief takeover of Kyrgyzstan’s government headquarters last week, according to a news report Sunday. Mukar Cholponbayev, who served as speaker of the Central Asian nation’s lower parliament house in the late 1990s, was arrested in the capital Bishkek on Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an unidentified Interior Ministry official. According to Interfax, the official said Cholponbayev was suspected of helping organize the takeover Friday, in which about 2,000 supporters of a would-be presidential contender stormed the headquarters. Full Story