Politicians in Kyrgyzstan ritually slaughtered seven sheep in parliament to exorcise "evil spirits" from the chamber, following a string of violent incidents.
Kyrgyz boys tend to their sheep on the outskirts of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Photo: AP
The parliament press service said the sheep were killed in a ritual sacrifice
within the walls of the Zhogorku Kenesh parliament in Kyrgyzstan's
capital Bishkek.
"Parliament deputies are hoping to chase evil spirits from the Zhogorku
Kenesh," an official with the public relations department said.
Earlier
this month, politicians arranged an armed showdown after a
parliamentary row in the chamber over corruption got out of hand, according
to security forces.
Ten handguns and an AK47 rifle were seized after police sealed off the
building.
The impoverished former Soviet nation went through a series of violent clashes
last year when a bloody revolution last April which unseated president
Kurmanbek Bakiyev was followed by deadly inter-ethnic clashes in June.
Kurmanbek Osmonov, a politician, said the sacrifice had been conducted at the
initiative of the deputies and a Muslim cleric had been invited to pray for
the victims of the April and June clashes.
"The meat of the sacrificial sheep will be sent to a home for the elderly, an orphanage and a mosque," he said.
"We're hoping that the tragic events that happened last year will not be repeated and peace and stability will settle in the country."
"The meat of the sacrificial sheep will be sent to a home for the elderly, an orphanage and a mosque," he said.
"We're hoping that the tragic events that happened last year will not be repeated and peace and stability will settle in the country."
