Kyrgyz police disperse gold mine protest

BISHKEK: Kyrgyz police on Wednesday dispersed an angry protest led by a fiery nationalist opposition leader demanding the nationalisation of a major gold mine owned by a Canadian mining company.

Some 1,000 people led by nationalist opposition Ata-Zhurt party leader Kamchybek Tashiev massed in Bishkek's central Ala-Too square to demand the nationalisation of the Kumtor mine but were met by even greater numbers of body-armoured police.

A few dozen protestors broke through the perimeter security to head towards the government headquarters and parliament but police deployed in force and used noise bombs to push them back, an AFP correspondent witnessed. A dozen demonstrators were injured.

"We need to enter the government building, change the authorities, seize the deputies' and ministers' offices and stay there overnight," the firebrand Tashiev told the protestors. "We cannot delay until tomorrow."

The Kumtor mine, wholly owned by Canadian mining group Centerra Gold is one of the resource-poor country's main natural assets. Located at an altitude of 4,000 metres, it is one of the world's highest mines and is in a hugely sensitive mountain environment.

Supporters of nationalisation claim the mine is in foreign hands because of the actions of the corruption-tarnished regimes of former presidents Askar Akayev and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who were both overthrown in popular uprisings.

The protest dispersed after the 2,000-strong police force moved in and police officers insisted that the situation in the city was calm. Only police remained on the square afterwards.

After the protest was broken up, Tashiev sped off in his car in an unknown direction. However prosecutors said they were investigating if his call to overthrow the authorities was against the law.

"The authorities did not allow destructive forces to run amok and showed a readiness to resist any provocations. The situation is under control," said Bishkek mayor Isa Omurkulov.

The Kumtor mine lies 350 kilometres (220 miles) southeast of Bishkek and about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of China. According to Centerra, it is the largest gold mine operated in Central Asia by a Western-based company.

The spark for the protest appeared to be a visit to the mine earlier this week by Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Zhantoro Satybaldiyev who said that it would not be nationalised even though there were "problems".

"The government guarantees the investments of those companies that work within the law," he said.

President Almazbek Atambayev meanwhile told public television that it would be "very hard" to revise the latest agreement dating from 2009 with Centerra Gold, which was approved by parliament and the constitutional court.

Protestors vowed to continue their actions in the next days and mobilise thousands to fill the main square.

Kyrgyzstan is ex-Soviet Central Asia's most volatile state which saw two regimes overthrown in uprisings in 2005 and 2010 as well as inter-ethnic bloodletting in the south that claimed hundreds of lives in 2010.