BISHKEK, 25 March 2005 — Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev’s regime collapsed in chaos yesterday amid reports that he had resigned and fled the country after thousands of opposition protesters seized the seat of power.

In a day of dramatic developments, crowds stormed the White House compound housing the government and presidency and took control of the main television station.

“Askar Akayev right now is not on Kyrgyz soil,” Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a senior opposition leader, said later on television, confirming earlier reports.

Bakiyev said Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev also resigned, and the Supreme Court announced that it had annulled results of the parliamentary election on March 13 which had sparked the escalating opposition protests.

Amid unprecedented scenes, the protesters also freed Felix Kulov, a former vice president jailed in 2000 and who many become the leader of the fractious opposition.

Kulov, who was jailed on corruption charges which many people suspect were politically motivated, had called earlier on Akayev to resign and appealed for calm.

“Let’s keep the peace, let’s not lose our head,” he said into a megaphone, addressing some 4,000 people on the steps of the White House. “I want to thank you that you weren’t afraid and were peaceful and civilized.”

He urged Akayev to “meet with opposition leaders in order to peacefully and constitutionally transfer power.”

“If he comes to us, we guarantee the security of him and his family,” he said.

Amid the confusion, there was no certainty as to Akayev’s whereabouts. Officials in his own office said they did not know where he was.

The European security body OSCE, whose envoy was initially reported to have been in talks with Akayev, also said it did not know his whereabouts.

Interfax reported, without naming its sources, that he had flown to Kazakhstan by helicopter with his family.

The outgoing Parliament named its speaker as the Central Asian nation’s interim president, Russian news agencies reported. Ishenbai Kadyrbekov will serve as interim president, while Bakiyev will head a coordinating council of national unity, which will act as a temporary government, the news agencies reported, quoting deputies who attended the closed session.

The opposition was asked to present the new government to Parliament today.

The opposition named a new leadership for the Interior Ministry. Bakiyev told an emergency session of Parliament that the ministry would now be directed by former Deputy Interior Minister Abdyl Suranchiyev, with former deputy Alymbai Sultanov serving as his assistant.

Earlier, protesters armed with rocks and clubs swarmed into the Soviet-era White House, sweeping past overwhelmed riot police who swiftly retreated. Once inside they threw portraits of Akayev out of the windows and waved the flag of Kyrgyzstan.

Thirty people were injured in fighting outside the building between supporters and opponents of Akayev, medical officials said.

Addressing a crowd on the steps of the White House, Bakiyev said: “If the generals and police come over to our side, we will solve this problem peacefully.”

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted the head of the Supreme Court telling the emergency session of parliament that the judges had annulled the registration of deputies who won in March.

Many demonstrators wore pink and yellow arm bands which are rapidly becoming the colors of anti-Akayev protest — much as orange was the campaign color in Ukraine and the red rose the symbol of the opposition in Georgia.

Unlike Ukraine and Georgia, there is no single unifying opposition leader in Kyrgyzstan. But Bakiyev played a leading role in events yesterday and could turn out to be a key figure. “We will establish order. We will not allow looting. We will hold our own elections to start our rule,” said Bakiyev.

Kyrgyzstan borders Afghanistan, which lies on one of the world’s main drug trafficking routes and itself has a history of inter-ethnic conflict.