President Kurmanbek Bakiyev today refused to step down after riots forced him to flee the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and opposition leaders took control of the former Soviet republic.
"I haven't resigned and won't resign," Mr Bakiyev, who came to power in 2005 street protests, said today in a statement. "Any irresponsible actions by the opposition leaders could lead to a further escalation of tensions."
Kyrgyzstan, which borders China's turmoil-prone Xinjiang province, is home to an air base from which the US deploys troops to Afghanistan. Russia has maintained a military presence established in Soviet times.
The US, Russia and the United Nations have called for calm after protests yesterday left at least 75 dead, while more than 1,400 people were injured. The capital Bishkek awoke to blazing cars and burned-out shops today after clashes between protesters and security forces yesterday. Black plumes of smoke billowed from the White House, or the main seat of government, as crowds rampaged through the seven-storey building setting several rooms on fire.
The uprising, which began on Tuesday in a provincial town, was sparked by discontent over corruption, nepotism and rising prices in a nation where a third of the 5.3 million population live below the poverty line.
Russia today sent 150 paratroopers to reinforce its Kant air base, Russia's RIA Novosti news service reported.
The US and Russia both have military bases in Kyrgyzstan. The US has limited its use of its base at Manas International Airport near Bishkek. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in Washington the cutbacks are not "significantly affecting our efforts to support troops in Afghanistan."
Earlier, Roza Otunbayeva, head of Kyrgyzstan's interim government, said Mr Bakiyev is organising resistance in the southern city of Jalalabad.
"People in Kyrgyzstan want to build democracy. What we did yesterday was our answer to the repression and tyranny against the people by the Bakiyev regime," Ms Otunbayeva, who once served as foreign minister under Mr Bakiyev, told reporters.
"You can call this revolution. You can call this a people's revolt. Either way, it is our way of saying that we want justice and democracy."
Mr Bakiyev, in an interview broadcast by Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio station, laughed off the suggestion he was planning to take up arms. "How can the elected leader of a country go against his own people with a weapon in his hands?" he said.
Mr Bakiyev said he was aware that most of the police and military had sided with the opposition and argued that the violent protests that first broke out in provincial towns two days ago would have been "impossible" without foreign involvement. He declined to name the countries involved in his ouster.
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin told Ms Otunbayeva in a phone call today that Russia is ready to provide Kyrgyzstan with humanitarian aid, state broadcaster Rossiya-24 reported.
The United States said today it would take no side on the Kyrgyzstan uprising, scrambling to balance links to both the ousted president and the self-proclaimed new rulers of a country that hosts a key US air base.
State Department officials said Kyrgyz foreign minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev met a top US diplomat in Washington, while the US charge d'affaires in the Kyrgyz capital met opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva.
"Our message to both is the same," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told a news briefing. "We will continue to urge them to resolve this in a peaceful way."
The White House, too, called for calm and said it looked forward to Kyrgyzstan returning to the democratic path following this week's violence.
Mr Bakiyev last year decided to evict the US military after receiving a $2 billion Russian aid package. He later reversed that decision when the US agreed to pay higher rent.
The landlocked country depends on remittances from migrant workers in Russia for about 40 per cent of national income and also relies on rent paid by the US and Russia for their bases.
The European Union today said Kyrgyzstan was "entering a new phase". EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on all sides to exercise restraint and said it was essential to make clear how a rapid return to democratic and constitutional order would be achieved after an interim government took power.
"Kyrgyzstan is entering a new phase . . . all sides should be ready to engage in constructive internal dialogue in favour of a united and stable Kyrgyzstan," she said, adding the European Union was ready to provide humanitarian help if needed.
Kyrgyzstan's average monthly wage was $132 in January, according to the country's National Statistical Committee.
About a third of the population lives below the poverty level, making the country eligible for aid from the International Development Association, the World Bank's support arm for the poorest economies.
Mr Bakiyev came to power in the 2005 "Tulip Revolution" protests, led jointly by Ms Otunbayeva, which ousted Kyrgyzstan's first post-Soviet president, Askar Akayev. She briefly served as acting foreign minister before falling out with Mr Bakiyev.
Agencies