Kyrgyzstan asked for up to $500 million in aid on Thursday to restore two southern cities where hundreds of people are living in the ruins of homes destroyed during the worst violence in the country's modern history, Reuters reported. About 300 people were killed, and possibly hundreds more, during several days of clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks four weeks ago. In some regions of Osh and Jalalabad, houses and public buildings were burned to the ground. "We need somewhere between $450 million and $500 million to restore and build housing," Temir Sariyev, acting minister of finance in the provisional government, told a meeting of diplomats and international agency representatives. The bloodshed in Kyrgyzstan created a wave of 400,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, about a quarter of whom crossed the nearby border into Uzbekistan. Most have since returned to their homes, where some are living without a roof overhead. Kyrgyz authorities estimate over 2,500 buildings, including 1,900 private houses, were destroyed in the violence. About 15 percent of all buildings in Osh, the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, were destroyed. -- SPA
