Moscow (Christian Science Monitor) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev resigned and fled the country, leaving political power fully in the hands of a group of political insiders who toppled him in a popular uprising last week .

Mr. Bakiyev, who had been trying to rally supporters in his native south for a possible comeback, threw in the towel Thursday and fled, with Russian and U.S. help, to neighboring Kazakhstan after being shot at during a political meeting in his home town of Osh .
A formal agreement with Bakiyev was reportedly struck following concerted international mediation by leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President Barack Obama, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Under the deal, Bakiyev formally resigned his presidency and goes into self-imposed exile. ""In these tragic days for the Kyrgyz people, I am resigning in accordance with the Kyrgyz Constitution, taking into account my responsibility for the future of the Kyrgyz people,"" Bakiyev said after arriving in the Kazakh city of Taraz Thursday.
""This development is an important step towards the stabilization of the situation, a return to a framework providing for the rule of law, and the prevention of a civil war in Kyrgyzstan,"" the OSCE said in a statement.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed Bakiyev's departure as ""an important step toward the peaceful, stable, prosperous, and democratic development"" of Kyrgyzstan.
That would seem to leave the new interim government, under former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva in charge of the mountainous state of 5 million people, which is strategically placed at the heart of central Asia but is also one of the most impoverished and politically unstable in a very turbulent region.
Though Bakiyev will probably go safely into exile, perhaps in Turkey, Ms. Otumbayeva has called for him to stand trial for the deaths of 84 people, who were killed last week when riot police opened fire on protesters in Bishkek. The interim government has arrested Kyrgyzstan's ex-defense minister, Baktybek Kaliyev, and lauched a manhunt to arrest the ex-president's brother Janysh Bakiyev, who headed the state guards service. Though Moscow has extended conditional recognition and emergency financial aid to Otumbayeva's government, Mr. Medvedev said in a statement that it will wait and see before formally recognizing the new regime. ""We will see, the current leaders have yet to agree among themselves, sometimes that is not easy,"" Medvedev said. ""I would very much want the new authorities ... to be free from these faults,"" he added, referring to the corruption, political infighting, and nepotism that plagued Bakiyev's time in office. But restoring order is not likely to prove easy. Kyrgyzstan is riven by internal divisions between its north and southern zones -- which are separated by the Tien Shan mountain range -- and faces serious ethnic tensions and potential Islamist rebellion in the turbulent south. Kyrgyz politics are dominated by powerful clans, who tend to treat official positions as a means of rewarding their own and excluding others. The deputy leader, Omurbek Tekevayev said the agreement over Manas air force base would be extended for another year. The base, which is a vital link in the resupply chain for NATO forces in nearby Afghanistan, is probably secure for the time being. Bakiyev threatened to close the base down last year, but later agreed to keep it open when the U.S. more than tripled the rent it pays for use of the facility. Photo: Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev speaks to the media in the courtyard of his family home, in the village of Teyit, in the Jalal-Abad region, southern Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday. Bakiyev resigned Thursday and fled to Kazakhstan. (Photo: Sergei Grits/AP)