Kyrgyzstan's new leaders yesterday moved to tighten their grip on power by arresting top allies of ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev after he was dramatically flown out into apparent exile.
Officials from the interim government which replaced Mr Bakiyev after he was toppled in deadly protests last week said they had arrested his ex-defence minister Baktybek Kaliyev and were seeking to detain a dozen close allies.
They were also hoping to secure international recognition, with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warning them to avoid the faults of their predecessors.
Edil Baisalov, chief of staff for the head of the interim government Roza Otunbayeva, acknowledged: "Now the new authorities have the task of legitimisation."
Mr Bakiyev was airlifted to the city of Taraz in neighbouring Kazakhstan in a move jointly coordinated by Russia and the United States in a bid to quell Kyrgyzstan's flaring tensions.
After arriving in Kazakhstan on Thursday, Mr Bakiyev formally resigned, "taking into account my responsibility for the future of the Kyrgyz people" while bitterly blaming his foes for the bloodshed that left 84 dead.
The resignation letter was triumphantly read out by Ms Otunbayeva, brandishing a copy of the handwritten text.
Mr Bakiyev yesterday thanked the Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev for offering him refuge in comments broadcast on a Kazakhstan state television channel, the Interfax news agency reported.
"I express my sincere gratitude for the help and the care you showed me," Mr Bakiyev said in televised comments. He condemned the interim government, saying it seized power in "an armed coup that cost lives."
Kyrgyz analyst Almaz Esengeldiyev said the interim government still had to work to win the trust of the people, ahead of elections promised in six months.
"The government must show the people that this revolution was not all in vain and nothing of the like will happen in Kyrgyzstan again," the analyst said.
Mr Bakiyev was still believed to be in Taraz yesterday, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported, but it was not clear where he would head from there. Some reports have suggested Turkey as a possible destination.
As well as arresting the ex-defence minister, the security forces also launched an operation to arrest Mr Bakiyev's brother and ex-state guards service chief Janysh by surrounding his house.
Officials said they would ask Kazakhstan to extradite his son Murat Bakiyev, former prime minister Daniyar Usenov and ex-security services chief Murat Sutalinov, who all took refuge there amid the protests.
"The ousted president will not be spared punishment," Mr Baisalov said, adding that an international commission should investigate Bakiyev's role in the violence.
"As long as Bakiyev is not going to hide in a cave in Tora Bora in Afghanistan the international community will find him and bring him to responsibility," he said.
Mr Bakiyev came to power in a popular uprising known as the Tulip Revolution in 2005, but in recent years he faced increasing criticism for authoritarianism and corruption as the country lurched into economic disaster.