Kyrgyzstan's ousted interior minister, warning of a risk of civil war, said on Saturday he was leading thousands of demonstrators towards the capital to protest against the coup that overthrew President Askar Akayev. But the new leadership, which seized power on Thursday after mass protests, said the action had fizzled out and declared it was in control of the mountainous ex-Soviet state. The capital was jumpy after widespread looting following the lightning coup. Tensions increased when acting President Kurmanbek Bakiev switched the venue of a news conference because officials got word of a possible plot to kill him. Ignoring the exiled Akayev's refusal to resign, parliament set June 26 for a new presidential election in the central Asian nation. Bakiev said he would run in the election. The new leader, who has criticised Akayev for fleeing the country when it was in crisis, said he had been as surprised as anybody by the speed of events. "It didn't enter my head that this could happen. God forbid that anyone should come to power in this way. I am not a supporter of such things, but what happened," Bakiev said. He said the protest march towards Bishkek from Akayev's home region of Chym Korgon in Kemen province to the east was a provocative action. --More 2102 Local Time 1802 GMT
