Deadly clashes in Kyrgyzstan force more and more people to flee the country

The violence in southern Kyrgyzstan appears to be abating but UN agencies say the region remains an ethnic tinderbox. The International Red Cross reported Tuesday that several hundred people have been killed in interethnic clashes centered ++ +KARTE REIN+++ around the cities of Osh and JalaAbad are the worst affected. An estimated 275,000 ethnic Uzbeks have fled their homes, more than a third of them for Uzbekistan -- prompting UN officials to warn that the conflict could spread beyond Kyrgyzstan. +++LM RAUS+++ The UN Security Council has condemned the violence and called on the interim government to restore order.