Swiss Diplomat Will Head OSCE Police Advisers In Kyrgyzstan

Markus Mueller (right) in 2006, when he was head of the OSCE Center in Bishkek

Swiss diplomat Markus Mueller has been selected to head a team of 52 police advisers whom the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) plans to send to Kyrgyzstan.

Mueller headed the OSCE Center in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, from 2003 to 2008.

The situation in southern Kyrgyzstan remains fragile after ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks clashed there in June, leaving nearly 400 people dead, thousands displaced, and causing widespread destruction.

A statement from the OSCE said "the group will comprise unarmed international police officers and local community mediators who will monitor and advise the police of Kyrgyzstan in six police stations in the Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces."

There have been protests in Osh and Bishkek against sending the OSCE policemen.

Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva said earlier this week she expects the OSCE policemen to be deployed sometime in mid-September.

compiled from agency reports