Roza Otunbayeva has been inaugurated as president of conflict-wracked Kyrgyzstan, making her the first female leader in the history of ex-Soviet Central Asia. Ms Otunbayeva, a former ambassador to the United Kingdom who took power on the wave of bloody street riots in April which ousted the president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, took the oath of office at a Soviet-era concert hall in the capital Bishkek. The inauguration comes just days after the country overwhelmingly approved a new constitution making Kyrgyzstan the region's first parliamentary democracy, a move Ms Otunbayeva hopes will help bring calm to the restive country.
*AFP
