Body of Kyrgyz opposition politician found

Kyrgyz police say they have found the body of an opposition politician who disappeared last year amid opposition charges of government repression.

An Interior Ministry official said Thursday that Ruslan Shabotoyev was shot dead during a dispute over unpaid debts. One man has been arrested in connection with the killing.

Shabotoyev was a leading member of the Social Democratic party, one of the few remaining opposition forces in Kyrgyzstan, which hosts an important U.S. air base.

He is the fifth member of parliament to be killed since street protests drove the Central Asian nation's longtime leader, Askar Akayev, from power in March 2005.

Government critics say Akayev's successor, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has been steadily stamping out opposition.