Ex-Kyrgyz Leader Denies Role In Unrest

Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev.

MINSK (Reuters) -- Exiled former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiev has denied any involvement in a wave of ethnic violence in the south of Kyrgyzstan that has killed at least 84 people.

Bakiyev said in a statement that reports of his involvement were "shameless lies" and that the interim government that replaced him after an uprising in April were proving incapable of quelling the unrest.