Former Kyrgyz President Buying Property In Belarus

Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev holds a press conference in Minsk in June 2010.

MINSK -- Real estate agents in Minsk say former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev is negotiating to buy a house in the elite Raubichi suburbs of the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

The real estate agents, who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, said the final cost of the deal was not clear, adding that talks were under way and the price of the house was between $1.7 million and $2.05 million.

Bakiev, who is wanted back in Bishkek for alleged corruption and giving the order to shoot at protesters, fled Kyrgyzstan in the wake of antigovernment protests in April 2010.

He has been living in Belarus at the invitation of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka since then.