Senior Russian resigns from Kyrgyz government

The first deputy prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, Boris Silayev, has resigned to take up a post in Russia.

He is leaving to work for the city government of Moscow.

Mr Silayev is the latest in a series of prominent ethnic Russians to leave Kyrgyzstan for Russia.

Correspondents say many ethnic Russians feel isolated because of the predominance of the Kyrgyz language over Russian, and because of the lack of employment opportunities.

Ethnic Russians now make up thirteen per-cent of the population, compared to twenty-five percent at independence in 1991.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service