Kyrgyzstan authorities have lifted a curfew in its violence-torn southern region of Osh to allow a controversial referendum on a new constitution to go ahead, officials said.
Kyrgyzstan is going ahead with a constitutional referendum on Sunday, despite warnings that the poll could spark a renewal of the violence that killed at least 264 people in inter-ethnic clashes earlier this month.
"The inhabitants of Osh had asked the leadership to extend the curfew," said deputy interior minister Baktybek Alymbekov, announcing the decision on national television.
"But the decision was taken to examine this question according to the situation after the referendum has taken place," he added.
The official said that roadblocks staffed by security forces rather than soldiers would remain in place and security would be boosted throughout the region.
The new constitution proposed in the referendum would significantly reduce the powers of the president and make the country Central Asia's first parliamentary republic.
Osh was the centre of the deadly clashes between the majority Kyrgyz and minority Uzbek populations that forced tens of thousands from their homes and prompted the imposition of a 24-hour curfew in the region.
The referendum has been called by Kyrgyzstan's provisional government, which came to power after former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in riots in April.
