Ousted President Askar Akayev has agreed to resign without returning to Kyrgyzstan, the parliament speaker said Saturday. He said members of a commission seeking Akayev's formal surrender of power would travel to Moscow on Sunday. "We have received a verbal agreement" from Akayev, who fled to Russia after his ouster March 24, to sign his resignation outside the country rather than returning and stepping down at a session of parliament, the legislature's speaker Omurbek Tekebayev said. He said commission members would travel to Moscow on Sunday, but gave no details about plans for talks with Akayev, who has said in media interviews that he is outside the Russian capital. Akayev has said he is prepared to resign if given adequate security guarantees.
