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Ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev says he fears he will be killed if he returns to the capital, Bishkek.Mr Bakiyev told the BBC that armed opposition supporters had targeted his office during Wednesday's uprising.
Speaking from a secret location in the southern city of Jalalabad, he insisted he was still the legitimate president.
Kyrgyzstan has been observing a day of mourning for the dozens killed in the uprising. An interim government under Roza Otunbayeva is now in control.
She said Mr Bakiyev had the opportunity "to leave the country".
"We will guarantee his security, only his personal security, if he resigns," Ms Otunbayeva said.
North-south divide
The BBC's Richard Galpin says that in order to avoid being followed he was taken in several different vehicles by the ousted president's security guards to Mr Bakiyev's modest new home in Jalalabad.
The small city is in southern Kyrgyzstan, Mr Bakiyev's power base.
Mr Bakiyev said he feared those responsible for the uprising in the capital on Wednesday were trying to track him down.
He said the uprising was a well-organised, covert operation in which there was foreign involvement, although he refused to say which country.
Mr Bakiyev said his office in Bishkek had been riddled with bullets on Wednesday in an attempt to kill him and that although he regarded himself as the legitimately elected president, with widespread support, he could not go back.
"If I were to turn up in Bishkek today I would not be safe. I would be killed, or they would throw me into the crowd saying, 'this is the man who ordered the police to open fire; he is responsible for the bloodshed'," he said.
Mr Bakiyev said he would stay in the country to prevent civil war that could erupt because of the deep divide between the north and the south of the country.
He also poured scorn on the interim government set up by the opposition, saying it was unable to restore law and order.
He added that he and his ministers were continuing to work in order to stabilise the country. Mr Bakiyev has offered to talk to the opposition but Ms Otunbayeva says she has no plans to do so and says Mr Bakiyev must resign.
Kyrgyzstan on Friday observed a day of national mourning for the victims of the protests, with the first funerals being held.
Thousands of mourners gathered in the main square of Bishkek.
Many of them blamed the deaths on Mr Bakiyev.
"Bakiyev must be tried and executed for all these crimes," said Fatima Imanaliyeva, whose two friends were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters.
"We will never forgive him. This is our revolution," she told Reuters news agency.
Another mourner, Azimbek Sariyev, told Associated Press: "My friend Talas perished. I hope he hasn't died for nothing. We have ousted Bakiyev and won't allow the rulers to mock us."
Ms Otunbayeva has accused Mr Bakiyev's supporters of continuing to orchestrate "incidents of violence" around the capital.
She said "several bombs" had been planted in Bishkek.
Russia appears to have given its backing to Ms Otunbayeva's leadership - she has already held telephone talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The deputy head of the interim government, Almazbek Atambayev, has gone to Moscow "for talks on economic aid", the government said in a statement.
Both Russia and the US have airbases in Kyrgyzstan, and their presence has been the focus of debate in recent months.
The US base at Manas is crucial to its operations in Afghanistan but its lease is due to expire in July.
The US said it had now resumed normal operations at Manas after military flights were suspended on Wednesday.
Washington has played down concerns over the future of the base, with a state department spokesman underlining its "existing agreement with the government of Kyrgyzstan".
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