Hopes for Peace as Kyrgyzstan Votes for New President

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Source: NYT

The people of this strategically important Central Asian nation voted in a presidential election on Sunday, seeking an end to years of political turmoil, though some fear the vote could expose the regional and ethnic divisions that nearly tore the country apart last year.

Almazbek Atambayev, who was prime minister until stepping down in September to concentrate on his campaign, was set to win with about 60 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission reported Monday.

It was the first presidential election since the bloody ouster in April 2010 of Kyrgyzstan’s authoritarian leader, Kurmanbek S. Bakiyev. That was followed by an explosion of violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in the south of the country that led to nearly 500 deaths.

In the year and a half since, there have been no other major outbreaks of violence, though people in this former Soviet republic of about five million remain on edge.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/world/asia/kyrgyzstan-votes-for-president-and-hopes-for-peace.html

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1. Kyrgyzstan?