Members of the Kyrgyz opposition Ar-Namys Party picketed outside the UN building in New York on 1 October while Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev was delivering a speech to the General Assembly, gazeta.kg reported on 2 October. As well as demanding the release from prison of party leader Feliks Kulov -- who is serving a 10-year sentence for alleged crimes committed while he held various government posts, including vice president, head of the National Security Committee, and mayor of Bishkek -- the picketers handed out leaflets critical of the current government of Kyrgyzstan. Party members reportedly intend to stage similar demonstrations in every country Akaev plans to visit. The New York-based human rights group Human Rights Watch has asked French President Jacques Chirac to raise the Kulov case with Akaev during the Kyrgyz president\'s stop in France on his way home from the UN. (RFE/RL)