From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Nov 01 2001 - 13:47:31 EST
US Peace Corps suspends programmes in Kyrgyzstan
Text of report by Kyrgyz news agency Kabar
Bishkek, 20 October: All of the 52 volunteers working in the US Peace Corps
in Kyrgyzstan have been sent back to the USA because their parents were
worried after the 11 September terrorist attack in the USA and owing to the
US State Department's warning about travelling to Kyrgyzstan as well.
The director of the US Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, (?Josef Kertin) said that
the decision by the Peace Corps in Washington to suspend the programme had
been taken as a precautionary measure. Programmes have also been suspended
in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Kertin said that the programme in
Kyrgyzstan had been suspended temporarily and he hopes very much that the
volunteers will come back to Kyrgyzstan soon.
The Peace Corps is continuing to cooperate with its partners and the schools
at which the volunteers were working and is continuing to take part in many
events being conducted by local schools and non-governmental organizations.
Following the attacks in the USA, the Kyrgyz government has taken every
possible measure to ensure the safety of the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan, for
which we are very grateful, Kertin said. The Kyrgyz government also helped
the volunteers to get back to the USA safely.
The Peace Corps, which was formed by decree of President John Kennedy in
1961, began working on its programmes in the republic in 1993 at the
invitation of the Kyrgyz president [Askar Akayev]. The programme includes
the teaching of English as a foreign language and a stable economic
development plan.
The volunteers live and work in the villages and are learning to speak
Kyrgyz and Russian. At the present time, more than 300 Peace Corps
volunteers have served in Kyrgyzstan.
Source: Kabar news agency, Bishkek, in Russian 0920 gmt 30 Oct 01
BBC Mon CAU 301001gar/mk
|
