Addressing the upper chamber of the Kyrgyz parliament on 17 May, a visibly strained President Askar Akaev appealed to the opposition to help find a peaceful solution to the mass demonstrations and protests that have wracked the country in recent months. He said the pickets in Bishkek and elsewhere to protest the parliament\'s ratification of the 1999 border agreement with China \"run counter to our laws.\" Also on 17 May, a government commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bazarbai Mambetov left Bishkek for the south of the country to meet with the thousands of protesters who have been blocking traffic on the main Bishkek-Osh highway since 13 May. They continued doing so on 18 May, while separate demonstrations to protest the territorial concessions to China were held on 18 May in the Aksy, Bazar-Korgon, and Uzgen raions. (RFE/RL)