Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan ? A day after chasing out a president who ruled this mountainous former Soviet republic for 15 years, Kyrgyzstan’s new leaders named an interim government Friday and struggled to suppress looting and arson that have ruined scores of shops in the capital.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former prime minister turned opposition leader, was returned to his old post by parliament. He also was given the duties of president, the title held since 1990 by Askar Akayev, who disappeared Thursday as demonstrators surged into his headquarters, known as the White House. It was the third successful street revolt in a former Soviet republic in 16 months.

The United States and Russia, which both maintain military bases in the poor, largely Muslim country of 5 million people, signaled Friday they were ready to do business with the new leadership that was taking shape.

“Who’s running our country?” asked the banner headline in a Bishkek newspaper.

Bakiyev said he was, and called on his countrymen to prevent a repeat of the looting and violence that erupted after nightfall Thursday, causing at least three deaths and scores of injuries.

“As the prime minister and the acting president of Kyrgyzstan, I address you and ask you to be wise, be patient and happy,” Bakiyev told a respectful crowd of several thousand in front of the White House, which protesters had overrun 24 hours earlier. “Let’s work on concrete things now.”

But Akayev appeared to argue that he was still the legitimate leader. In neighboring Kazakhstan, where Russian media reports said he took refuge before leaving for some other destination, a statement bearing his name declared that “an unconstitutional coup d’etat has been staged in Kyrgyzstan.”

It said that “my current stay outside the country is temporary. Rumors of my resignation are deliberate, malicious lies.” The statement said he had possessed the means to suppress the insurrection but chose not to, so as to avoid violence.

On Friday night, officials organized civilian patrols to bolster the handful of uniformed police officers who returned to duty after disappearing from the streets in face of the demonstrators’ advance.

Law enforcement officers beat a man during looting at a shopping center on the main street in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The opposition scrambled to restore order and fill the power vacuum Friday, a day after protesters drove Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev's government from power, unleashing widespread looting.