Kyrgyzstan is looking forward to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's help to bring peace between the Kyrgyz and the Uzbeks following two weeks of bloody clashes between the two ethnic groups in the southern part of the country.

The Central Asian country's ambassador to Malaysia, Bakir Uulu Tursunbay, said that Dr Mahathir, as the Malaysian elder statesman and well respected in the Muslim world, would be accepted to both parties and based on his vast experience was suitable to undertake the peace-making role.