Kyrgyz Inmates End Mass Hunger Strike

Officials in Kyrgyzstan say inmates in the country's prisons have ended their mass hunger strike that started on March 25.

The State Penitentiary Service reported Wednesday that the situation is under control and all the inmates are eating again.

Last Friday, prisoners at several jails declared a hunger strike to protest living conditions and poor treatment. By Monday, the protest had spread to virtually all of the country's penitentiaries.

But a top prisons official said the inmates were striking in support of organized crime boss Kamchi Kolbayev, who is being pursued by authorities.

The inmates' relatives, who picketed the government and parliament buildings earlier this week, confirmed the end of the strike Wednesday after they said authorities promised to meet the prisoners' demands.

Kyrgyzstan hosts an important U.S. air base serving as a key link supplying U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. It is recovering from ethnic riots between Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities in the south last June.

The violence left hundreds of mostly minority Uzbeks dead, and followed disturbances in April that ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and forced him to flee the country.