A military coalition of former Soviet republics is deploying military advisors to Kyrgyzstan in the run-up to a constitution referendum on Sunday, dpa quoted the Akipress news agency as reporting today. Nikolai Bordjusha, the secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, said during a visit to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek that the group's military experts will help the local police and military prevent further violent unrest. The move comes two weeks after the start of ethnic fighting that eventually left some 2,000 people dead. Bordjusha also promised to provide technical support to the interim Kyrgyz government, with helicopters and military vehicles among the items to be sent to Bishkek. But Bordjusha once again rejected the idea of sending armed soldiers to Kyrgyzstan. Interim President Rosa Otunbayeva, meanwhile, expressed disappointment at the fact that the Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe would not be sending 300 election observers to Kyrgyzstan, as originally planned. It is not an encouraging decision, she said. The agency, which is headquartered in Vienna, justified the cancellation by citing the continuing dangerous situation in Kyrgyzstan. The group will deploy only 36 of its Kyrgyzstan-based personnel to monitor the elections. Otunbayeva also rejected media reports that most of the country's 400,000 displaced residents will not be able to vote, after losing their papers when they escaped the violence. Otunbayeva said all they will need to do is have two other Kyrgyz nationals confirm their identity.
