OSCE alarmed by Kyrgyzstan clashes

VIENNA (Reuters) - Europe's biggest security and human rights body voiced deep concern about ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan at an emergency meeting Tuesday and said it was ready to help restore order in the Central Asian state.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said countries needed to take immediate action to stem the violence in which at least 170 people have been killed and called on states to send humanitarian aid.

The 56-nation body, whose members include Kyrgyzstan, Russia and the United States, is already present in the country but said it was willing to do more as the clashes worsen.

"(We are ready) to assist Kyrgyzstan upon its request in resolving the current crisis, preventing the spillover of tensions in the region, and in promoting post conflict rehabilitation," the Vienna-based OSCE said in a statement.

It gave no exact indication of what help might be offered, but its officials traditionally act as intermediaries, monitor elections and carry out other similar work.

The emergency meeting of the OSCE's policy-making council, triggered by a warning from its national minorities chief, is a sign of fears that the situation may develop into a full-scale conflict.

Such a warning has only been given once before, in response to clashes in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia in 1999.

"I sincerely hope that we will also be fast in making decisions on concrete actions and on allocating the necessary resources," OSCE chair Kairat Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan said.

The United Nations has urged Kyrgyzstan to prevent the spread of "indiscriminate" ethnic violence in the region bordering Afghanistan and said the number of refugees fleeing the clashes may soon exceed 100,000.

The clashes, which began Thursday night and escalated over the weekend, have fueled concern in Russia and the United States, both of whom operate military air bases in the strategic but volatile nation west of China.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by David Stamp)