Foreign Correspondence

[otraque]

Uzbek president blames Islamic group for violence By Shamil Baigin
Sat May 14, 7:44 AM ET

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=1&u=/nm/20050514/wl_nm/uzbekistan_...

SHAKHRIKHAN, Uzbekistan (Reuters) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Saturday blamed Islamic militants for violence in the east of his country in which troops fired on protesters and rebels, killing dozens of people.

In his first word on Friday's violence in Andizhan, Karimov denied any order had been given to troops to open fire, saying the outlawed Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir was responsible for the deaths which followed the rebel seizure of a state building.

"I know that you want to know who gave the order to fire at them ... No one ordered (troops) to fire at them," a visibly angry Karimov told a news conference in the capital Tashkent.

Karimov, in power since before mainly Muslim Uzbekistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, said 10 police and troops had been killed and 100 wounded.

He said there was even higher number of rebel casualties, but made no mention of civilian dead or wounded.

As a crowd of up to 2,000 people gathered again in the center of Andizhan on Saturday, a pro-opposition reporter said dozens of people had been killed in Friday's violence.

The violence in Uzbekistan follows unrest in neighboring Kyrgyzstan where violent protests -- which started in the city of Osh just across the border from Andizhan -- led to the ousting of President Askar Akayev.

Karimov said the rebels had hoped the Kyrgyzstan upheaval would help them to foment trouble.

In the past 18 months, there have also been "bloodless revolutions" in two other ex-Soviet republics, Ukraine and Georgia, both of which installed Western-leaning leaders. Central Asia's hardline leaders have reacted by clamping down further on dissent.

FEARS OR BLOODSHED

Amid fears of more bloodshed, security services gave foreign journalists 30 minutes to leave the city, saying they could not vouch for their safety in the town in the east of the Ferghana Valley, seen as a hotbed of Muslim extremists by the government.

The anti-government Hizb ut-Tahrir denied starting the violence. The pan-Islamic group has been blamed by Karimov for several past attacks, but it says it is non-violent.

Karimov said Hizb ut-Tahrir was behind explosions last July that killed four people at the U.S. and Israeli embassies and the prosecutor's office in Tashkent, and suicide bombings that killed 50 people a year ago.

The protesters, some calling for Karimov to stand down, gathered on Friday after rebels freed prison inmates, including 23 businessmen charged with religious extremism. The rebels then seized the building and took about 10 police hostage.

Alexei Volosevich, a reporter for the pro-opposition Web site www.ferghana.ru, said by telephone from the town square on Saturday, that he could see dozens of corpses.

"I'm standing next to the cinema and can see 30 dead people and two injured," he told Reuters before leaving the town. "I can see pools of blood and bits of brain on the asphalt."

He said some 2,000 people had gathered again on the square. His report could not be verified, but a doctor, who declined to give his name, said there were 96 wounded and "many, many dead."

TORTURE CHARGES

There were also signs of trouble spreading through the densely populated Ferghana Valley, home to nearly a quarter of all Uzbeks, as 500 refugees fled across the closed border to Kyrgyzstan, a Kyrgyzstan border guard spokeswoman said.

Uzbek troops retook the state building from the rebels late on Friday, but the area was sealed off and sporadic gunfire was heard. Officials said the rebels had refused to compromise.

Journalists working for foreign news organizations were told on Saturday to leave Andizhan for the town of Shakhrikhan, 30 km (19 miles) to the west.

Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country bordering Afghanistan, offered the United States use of a military airbase after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities and has become an ally in Washington's war on terrorism.

The country is one of the world's leading cotton exporters, is a gold producer, and has some oil and gas reserves. But it has deterred investment with a barely reformed economy.

Rights groups say there are at least 6,000 religious and political prisoners in Uzbekistan, where only state-sponsored Islam is allowed, and say torture is widely used.

U.S. and European reaction differed.

The White House, speaking after the shooting, urged both the government and demonstrators to show restraint. But in a blunt statement, the European Union blamed Karimov's government policies for provoking the violent protest.

Russia, Uzbekistan's former colonial master alarmed by the string of pro-Western revolutions in ex-Soviet republics, said it fully supported Karimov.

(Additional reporting by Maria Golovnina in Tashkent and Olga Dzyubenko in Bishkek)

Email Story IM Story Discuss Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:

Average (52 votes)
Recommended Stories
Full Coverage: Uzbekistan
News Stories
'High death toll' in Uzbekistan at BBC 55 minutes ago Uzbek Unrest Spreads to Kyrgyz Border AP via Yahoo! News 1 hour, 59 minutes ago Uzbek president blames Islamic extremists as body count rises AFP via Yahoo! News 2 hours, 45 minutes ago 'Islamists behind' Uzbek violence at CNN.com 2 hours, 54 minutes ago Feature Articles
Tough regime finds unlikely allies at BBC May 13 What lies behind Uzbek protests? at BBC May 13 Opinion & Editorials
China-Uzbek pact bad news for Uighurs at Asia Times Online Jul 29 New Torture Death Belies Claims of Progress (Human Rights Watch, 21-5-2004) at Human Rights Watch May 21
World News
Nine dead in U.S. assault, blasts hit Baghdad Reuters Two Koreas to meet, nuclear talks on agenda Reuters Nine rebels killed in southeast Turkey-officials Reuters Afghan president urges U.S. action over Koran Reuters Uzbek Unrest Spreads to Kyrgyz Border AP Most Viewed - World
Hundreds of Children Marry in India AP U.S. Circles Border Town in Militant Hunt AP Nine dead in U.S. assault, blasts hit Baghdad Reuters Uzbek Unrest Spreads to Kyrgyz Border AP Taiwan Ruling Party Wins Special Election AP