U.S. Ally Fires On Its People

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/14/world/main695223.shtml

(AP) President Islam Karimov claimed Saturday that authorities tried to negotiate a peaceful end to protests, but that troops were forced to open fire when insurgents who had seized a government building attempted to break through an advancing line of Uzbek police and soldiers.

He said 10 government troops and "many more" militants died in fighting Friday in the eastern city of Andijan. Relatives of the victims condemned the government, accusing troops of killing innocent civilians. Witnesses said 200 to 300 people were shot dead.

On Saturday, protesters overran government buildings in an Uzbek village on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, torching police vehicles and beating border guards, a Kyrgyz official said.

The fresh clashes broke out in the village of Korasuv, some 31 miles east of Andijan. Uzbek police and tax police offices were set on fire, and police cars were vandalized, a Kyrgyz official said on condition of anonymity. Uzbek helicopters were seen circling over the town.

[Wright Patman]

1. You gotta feel sorry for

a nation whose people are called "Uzbeks."

It sounds like something Dr. Seuss might have made up.

[Career Prole]

3. The "Stans" are the new black.

Shrub has been collecting them like baseball cards.

Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan...not to forget our important allies in the Coalition of the Dragged Along Kicking and Screaming...Invisistan and Alsoranistan.

Shrub is so very fond of Stans we should be called the United States of Oliver.

[Ian David]

19. Iraq, Syria, Afghanastan and Iran will merge & become Halliburtonstan

[Career Prole]

24. It'll be the first country in the U.N. to have

an "Inc." on the nameplate.

[allemand]

4. Look, 200-300, perhaps 500 men, women and children have been killed.

Do you really think this is the right time to crack a joke?

[FightingIrish]

2. The number is growing

The Italian press is reporting that more than 500 may have been killed.

http://www.repubblica.it/2005/e/sezioni/esteri/uzbekistan/contiprote/contiprote.html

[Clarkie1]

5. Uzbek soldiers 'killed hundreds'

Saturday, May 14, 2005 Posted: 11:56 AM EDT (1556 GMT)

(CNN) -- Hundreds of people have been killed by government soldiers in the wake of violent anti-government protest in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan, Russia's Interfax news agency report human rights monitors as saying.

A U.N. official and news reports said Saturday that Uzbeks fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan as well toward the Kyrgyz cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/uzbekistan/index.html

[leftchick]

6. An analyst on BBC seems to think Karimov (the boiler)'s days

are numbered. She felt this is the beginning of what will be a revolution in Uzbekistan. She also pointed out that regardless of what he says it was not just a Muslim backlash. It is widespread discontent among the entire population. Including in his own army! He is going down!

[allemand]

8. I really hope so.

But I'm afraid that there will be much bloodshed. :scared:

[leftchick]

14. no such like as a bloodless revolution.

:(

[leftchick]

21. well now that did not make any sense...

I did that without my glasses. :crazy:

What I meant to say is, there is no such thing as a bloodless revolution.

[lanlady]

15. Karimov's a despot

The fact that we count him among our allies incenses me. He tortures and kills his opponents with impunity and is no better than Saddam.

[leftchick]

18. you and me both...

it would be fitting to see him end up the same as many of his victims, in a boiling tub of water.

[Daphne08]

46. Same sentiment here.

The man is a butcher!

[MisterP]

22. and this one's a real revolution, not one of the NED's Potemkin Color-

Themed "Soft" Coups. So there will be no coverage of Karimov's horrors (real or fabricated), no beatific shots of immeasurably tiny crowds of "protesters," no newsdolts or Congress members racing about with sherbet-pink (or whatever the hell color) shawls, no unquestioning and unremittingly positive coverage.
Poor Brzezinski, his chess game is having the pieces eaten off it now.
During the Soviet Union, media readers knew that what was important was not what was said, but what was not said.

[norml]

7. Uzbek Unrest Spreads to Kyrgyz Border

By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan May 14, 2005 — Thousands of terrified Uzbeks waiting to flee across the border into Kyrgyzstan stormed government buildings, torched police cars and attacked border guards Saturday in a second day of violence spawned by an uprising against the iron-fisted rule of U.S.-allied President Islam Karimov.

The Uzbek leader blamed Islamic extremists for the revolt and said his troops were forced to shoot demonstrators Friday as they tried to break through police lines. Witnesses counted more than 200 civilians dead.

Karimov said 10 government troops and "many more" militants died and at least 100 people were wounded in Friday's fighting in the eastern city of Andijan, which lies in the fertile but impoverished Fergana Valley, just a few miles from the Kyrgyz border.






Soldiers loyal to Karimov fired on thousands of demonstrators Friday to put down an uprising that began when armed men freed 2,000 inmates from prison, including suspects on trial for alleged Islamic extremism.




snip




http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=757454

[Selatius]

9. I really want to know what Bush's damnable response to this is

This guy was a goddamn "ally" in the War on Terra. How can anyone honestly not get why so many people the world over hate the US for supporting bastards like Karimov in different times and places all over the world?

How about it, Bush? You teamed up with a guy who guns down his own people and boils them alive. And you stand there and blithely state that they hate us for our freedoms. What a bunch of bullshit. On this issue, Bush deserves as much condemnation for even tolerating, yes tolerating, Karimov's butchery. No conscientious human being would ever call him an ally.

[Barkley]

42. A: Sell them more weapons -nt

We should at minimum cut off arms sales to the gov't

[norml]

10. Thousands Flee Violence in Uzbekistan

8:37 AM PDT, May 14, 2005 latimes.com : World E-mail story Print Most E-Mailed

Thousands Flee Violence in Uzbekistan
From Associated Press
ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan -- Thousands of terrified Uzbeks fled for the border Saturday, a day after troops fired on demonstrators demanding more freedom in this tightly controlled former Soviet republic. President Islam Karimov said troops were forced to shoot after demonstrators tried to break through an advancing security cordon.

Witnesses said at least 200 people were killed, while Karimov said 10 government troops and "many more" militants died and at least 100 people were wounded in Friday's fighting in the eastern city of Andijan. Victims' relatives accused the government of killing innocent civilians.

Soldiers loyal to Karimov fired on thousands of demonstrators Friday to put down an uprising that began when armed men freed 2,000 inmates from prison, including suspects on trial for alleged Islamic extremism.

The U.S. State Department expressed concern Friday that those freed included members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is on the American list of terror groups.




snip



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-051405uzbekistan_wr,0,1616923.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[norml]

11. CIA - The World Factbook - Uzbekistan

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uz.html#Geo

[PsychoDad]

12. Hopefuly the Revolution will succeed...

And be replaced with a fairer form of government for the people.

Think Pootie-poot had anything to do with the uprising against America's dictator?

[cliss]

13. As I'm reading the posts, I hear Usama Bin Laden's

voice. He said, "we will bleed you financially in Afghanistan (and Iraq).

[hector459]

16. So who needs totalitarian gov'ts when "democracies" will do?

This ought to do a lot for Bush's push for "freedom and democracy" across the world. Putin will have a filed day with this.

[hector459]

17. So an "insurgent" is anyone who wants freedom in his own country?

I get it.

Funny, they didn't call the Ukranians "insurgents" when they protested and ousted their government.

[norml]

20. Up to 500 Dead in Uzbekistan

Up to 500 Dead in Uzbekistan





Protesters in the Uzbek town of Andijan cover up the bodies of men who died of soldiers’ fire. Human rights groups say that up to 500 people were killed in the turmoil. Photo by aljazeera.com

Politics: 14 May 2005, Saturday.

Up to 500 people have been killed in the recent turmoil in Andijan, an eastern Uzbek town, human rights organizations said Saturday.

Meanwhile, President Islam Karimov accused a radical Islamic group of starting the unrest to spark an uprising.

On Friday, soldiers opened fire on the crowd of about 2,000 demonstrators in Andijan.



snip



http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=47703

[norml]

23. Islam Karimov

Islam Karimov
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Islam KarimovIslam Abduganievich Karimov (in Uzbek actual Islom Karimov) (born January 30, 1938) is the President of Uzbekistan (since 1991).

Karimov was born in Samarkand and raised in a Soviet state orphanage. After studying engineering and economics in Tashkent, he became an official in the Communist Party.

He came to power as the party's First Secretary in Uzbekistan in 1989. On March 24, 1990 Karimov became President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. He declared the independence of Uzbekistan on August 31, 1991 and won elections held on December 29 of that year with 86% of the vote. The elections have been called unfair, with state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count, although the opposing candidate and leader of the Erk (http://www.uzbekistanerk.org) (Freedom) Party, Muhammad Solih, had a chance to participate. Shortly after the elections, a harsh political clampdown forced opposition leaders into exile, while many have been issued long-term prison sentences and a few have disappeared.

In 1995, Karimov extended his term until 2000 through a widely criticized referendum, and he was reelected with 91.9% of the vote on January 9, 2000. The United States said that this election "was neither free nor fair and offered Uzbekistan's voters no true choice" <1> (http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/election/uzbekistan/bbu260100.htm). The sole opposition candidate, Abdulhasiz Dzhalalov, admitted that he had only entered the race to make it appear to be a democratic contest and that he had actually cast his own vote for Karimov. On January 27, 2002, Karimov won another referendum extending the length of presidential terms from five to seven years; Karimov's present term, formerly due to end in 2005, was subsequently extended by parliament, which scheduled the next elections for December 2007.



snip



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Karimov

[norml]

25. UZBEKISTAN: US-BACKED DICTATOR DROWNS UPRISING IN BLOOD

May 15, 2005

UZBEKISTAN: US-BACKED DICTATOR DROWNS UPRISING IN BLOOD
By: Bill Van Auken
Uploaded/Updated: 05/14/2005 16:23:07


Local hospitals reported that dozens of people were shot to death and scores more wounded by Uzbekistan government forces in the eastern city of Andijan Friday after protesters stormed government offices and a jail, freeing thousands of prisoners.

According to reports from the city, military units opened fire on a demonstration of several thousand men, women and children in the city’s central square. The protesters had gathered chanting for “justice” and “freedom” and jobs.

The uprising was sparked by the jailing of 23 local men, many of them prominent business owners, who were accused by the government of Islamic extremism. Underlying the confrontation, however, was longstanding popular anger over mass unemployment, poverty and the brutal methods of the autocratic regime of President Islam Karimov, a key ally of the Bush administration in the so-called global war on terrorism.

The country of 26 million people is the largest of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia.



snip


http://www.muslimuzbekistan.com/eng/ennews/2005/05/ennews15052005a.html

[struggle4progress]

26. kick

[norml]

27. Uzbekistan on the brink as clashes spread

Uzbekistan on the brink as clashes spread

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Sunday May 15, 2005
The Observer

The violence that has reportedly killed hundreds of protesters in eastern Uzbekistan appeared to be spreading to neighbouring towns last night, raising fears that the volatile Central Asian state could erupt into a full-scale revolution.
As human rights workers in the flashpoint town of Andijan warned that the death toll there could reach 500, an official from the neighbouring country of Kyrgyzstan said sporadic rioting had broken out in the border town of Karasu, with government buildings and police cars on fire and military helicopters circling overhead.

One local official was reported by the Russian Interfax news agency to have been heavily beaten by rioters. The Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, claimed that troops had opened fire on protesters in Andijan only when they were advanced on.

Visibly angry, he told reporters in the capital, Tashkent: 'I know that you want to know who gave the order to fire at them ... No one ordered to fire at them.' He said 10 soldiers were killed in the clash and 'many more' protesters.




snip



http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1484252,00.html

[quaoar]

28. A doctor is confirming at least 500 dead

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan (AP) — An estimated 500 bodies have been laid out in a school in the eastern Uzbek city where troops fired on a crowd of protesters to put down an uprising, a doctor said Sunday, corroborating witness accounts of hundreds killed in the fighting.

The doctor, who said she had seen the bodies, said residents were coming to Andijan’s School No. 15 to identify dead relatives, who had been placed in rows. Soldiers were guarding the school, said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The doctor also said she believed some 2,000 people were wounded in the clashes on Friday, but it wasn’t clear how she arrived at that estimate.

Thousands of terrified Uzbeks trying to flee into Kyrgyzstan burned a government building Saturday and attacked border guards, a second day of violence triggered by a brazen jail break to free accused Islamic militants and a massive demonstration against economic conditions under the iron-fisted rule of President Islam Karimov.

[nolabels]

29. Uzbek media clampdown stifles unrest news

Uzbek media clampdown stifles unrest news
News sellers in Tashkent

Uzbek papers provide patchy coverage of Andijan

State TV and radio issued official statements saying the situation in eastern Uzbekistan was under control, as the government blocked foreign news broadcasts in the country.

Authorities cut all foreign TV news programming, including CNN and the BBC, replacing them with Uzbek and foreign entertainment channels.

In its news bulletins, Uzbek state TV said "an armed group of criminals" had attacked the security forces in Andijan. "The bandits seized dozens of weapons and moved on to attack a correctional colony, setting some convicts free," the TV said.

Describing the armed men as "extremists", state TV reported that nine people were killed and 34 wounded in clashes in the city.

'Bloodshed'

One Russian news agency reporting from the city said local Radio Diydor had gone off air and mobile telephones and the city's telephone network were working only intermittently.
(snip)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4543473.stm
http://www.antiwar.com/

[norml]

30. Uzbek border town set ablaze amid fear, riots

Uzbek border town set ablaze amid fear, riots
Los Angeles Times

Sunday, May 15, 2005

MOSCOW — Thousands of residents fleeing a bloody crackdown against protests in an eastern Uzbek city gathered Saturday in a nearby border town where rioting erupted amid fears of another assault by government troops.

Police stations, tax offices, the prosecutor's office and the customs terminal were set ablaze in the town of Korasuv, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported.

About 5,000 people had fled there Saturday from Andijon, 30 miles to the west, it said. Hundreds more fled to at least one other border-crossing site.

The violence in Korasuv was apparently triggered, at least in part, by anger that the border had been officially closed.




snip



http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/world/epaper/2005/05/15/a3a_uzbek_0515.html

[K8-EEE]

31. Bush Has The F-ing Nerve To Slander FDR, Meanwhile...

BushCo enables murderous dictators like "the boiler" and staging an invasion that is distabilizing the entire region. Meanwhile nominating Bolton to add insult to injury towards our traditional democratic allies.

[norml]

36. Shot down, ‘like rabbits’

Shot down, ‘like rabbits’




Relatives of a victim carry his coffin in Andizhan. (Reuters)

Andizhan (Uzbekistan), May 15 (Reuters): Families of hundreds killed in Uzbekistan when troops opened fire to quell protests buried their dead today as witnesses told of bloody mayhem in which women and children were shot “like rabbits”.

In a single incident in Andizhan on Friday, witnesses said soldiers had fired on a crowd including women and children and their own police comrades who were begging them not to shoot.

Hundreds of bodies lay overnight outside the eastern town’s School No. 15 after the massacre until they were removed in the early hours yesterday, the witnesses, who did not wish to be named, said.

Islam Karimov, autocratic President of the mainly Muslim Central Asian state, said troops were given no order to fire in Andizhan. He blamed the violence on rebels belonging to the outlawed Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. Hizb ut-Tahrir denied involvement.




snip




http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050516/asp/foreign/story_4745340.asp

[slor]

38. AMEN!

That piece of shit has blood on his fucking cowardly hands!

[norml]

32. CHRONOLOGY-A history of violence in Uzbekistan since 1989

CHRONOLOGY-A history of violence in Uzbekistan since 1989
15 May 2005 11:23:29 GMT

Source: Reuters

ANDIZHAN, Uzbekistan, May 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people are feared to have died in the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan when troops cracked down on protesters and rebels in the eastern town of Andizhan.

If casualty figures are confirmed, the Andizhan unrest would be the worst violence in Uzbekistan's post-Soviet history under the rule of autocratic President Islam Karimov.

Following is a chronology of major political events in Uzbekistan since Karimov assumed leadership of the Uzbek Communist Party in 1989:

1989 - Islam Karimov, the orphan son of a Tajik mother and Uzbek father, becomes leader of Uzbek Communist Party.




snip




http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1543394.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

33. Hey George,

isn't this guy as bad as Saddam? He's killing his own people?

[Daphne08]

47. Disturbing image.

[Spazito]

34. How can the bush cabal speak against Karimov while continuing...

to send prisoners to Uzbekistan to be tortured? That is one of the reasons the bush cabal response to the slaughter of civilians is muted, imo.

Terror suspects' torture claims have Mass. link
Secrecy shrouds transfer jet


snip

The Sunday Times of Britain reported two weeks ago that it had obtained a classified flight log of the plane that showed 300 flights from Washington, D.C., to 49 nations, including Libya, Jordan, and Uzbekistan -- three countries where the State Department has reported the use of torture. The story focused on the jet and Premier Executive Transport Services, the Massachusetts-registered company that owns it.

Sightings of the plane -- at refueling stops in Ireland and in Karachi, where it reportedly picked up another suspect -- have been published in newspapers across the globe and on the Internet. Records at the US Army Aeronautical Services Agency show the civil aircraft has a permit to land at US military bases worldwide.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2004/11/29/terror_suspects_torture_claims_have_mass_link/

[norml]

35. Uzbekistan lashes out at Straw

Uzbekistan lashes out at Straw
15/05/2005 17:06 - (SA)




Related Articles
300 bodies taken from Andijan

Uzbekistan gripped by unrest

Uzbek people 'living like dirt'




Tashkent - Uzbekistan on Sunday firmly rejected foreign criticism of its troops' bloody suppression of an uprising in the east of the country, denying that the soldiers had opened fire on demonstrators.

Witnesses said hundreds were killed on Friday when soldiers fired on protesters outside the local administration building in the city of Andijan.

The Uzbek foreign ministry issued a statement expressing surprise about critical statements by British foreign secretary Jack Straw, "who, being thousands of kilometres away from Andijan, was so well aware of the details of the clashes in that city."

"From where has Jack Straw learned that law enforcement had 'opened fire on demonstrators' if that did not take place at all,"' the ministry said.




snip




http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1705362,00.html

[entanglement]

37. Don't worry, if friend Karimov pisses us off later on

we can invade and say 'he killed his own people'.

[norml]

39. The crushing grip of a ruthless long-time ruler

The crushing grip of a ruthless long-time ruler

CALUM MACDONALD May 16 2005




LITTLE has changed in Uzbekistan since the collapse of communism and the break-up of the old Soviet Union, least of all the man in charge.
Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan's autocratic president, has dominated the central Asian republic since 1989, when he took over as leader of the communist party.
The following year he became president and has since retained a firm grip on power.
The orphan son of a Tajik mother and Uzbek father, his rule has been characterised by oppression, torture, human rights abuses and a failing economy.
Mr Karimov, 67, is from the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan and is an economist by profession. During the days of Soviet Uzbekistan he served as finance minister, one of several senior government posts he held.




snip



http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/39344.html

[nolabels]

41. Witnesses describe bloodbath outside Uzbek school

This Uzbek guy is nothing but a mobster, no wonder bush offers his unwavering support :shrug:

Witnesses describe bloodbath outside Uzbek school
15 May 2005 12:35:09 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Dmitry Solovyov

ANDIZHAN, Uzbekistan, May 15 (Reuters) - Uzbek soldiers fired into a crowd, including women, children and their own police comrades begging them not to shoot, when they crushed an uprising in the town of Andizhan, witnesses said on Sunday.

Soldiers later moved in among "literally hundreds" of bodies, finishing off some of the wounded with a single bullet, said one witness to Friday's killings outside School No. 15.

(snip)

"I COULD NOT COUNT ALL THE DEAD"

On Saturday, soldiers started removing corpses and the wounded, but a handful who tried to escape were shot dead, the witnesses said.

"Those wounded who tried to get away were finished with single shots from a Kalashnikov rifle," said the businessman. "Three or four soldiers were assigned to killing the wounded."
(snip)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15228509.htm

[norml]

40. Hizb-ut Tahrir villains involved in Andijan (Uzbekistan) events

16.05 / 08:33 Hizb-ut Tahrir villains involved in Andijan (Uzbekistan) events
ANDIJAN. May 16. KAZINFORM. /Rasul Bakhamov/ - One of the main forces which organized the assault upon administrative premises in the city of Andijan, Uzbekistan,
capture of arms and hostages turned to be one of the Hizb-urt Tahrir branches, Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov announced. Besides international terrorists’ actions can also be traced in Andijan events, Kazinform correspondent reports from Uzbekistan.
Islam Karimov referring to the official bodies’ data told that a group of 30 armed criminals assaulted the building of patrol service and military servicemen of the 34th military brigade. 9 guards were shot. Having seized the armament and military track the criminals attacked the building of the labor improvement colony and set free about 600 people.
Assaults upon the buildings of the city department of international security, Andijan oblast National Security Council and oblast hokimiyat followed afterwards. The evil-doers captured about 20 hostages.
Karimov said the negotiations with the criminals which had been lasting since the morning gave no results. The authorities offered them to refuse from the armed actions and exit from the city unimpeded. The offenders however forwarded inadmissible terms – to release a group of prisoners and received refusal.




snip




http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=123002

[norml]

44. By the way, this is an example of insane propaganda.

I thought I'd post it to show what nonsense the Uzbek government is putting out to try to cover for their actions.

[ausiedownunderground]

43. Karimov will not "fall" easily, particularly to Muslim fundamentalists!

I have been talking to a "beautiful" jewish woman who happens to live in Tashkent for the past 2 years! She is scared! Karimov is "evil" and has surpressed his population for decades. However the alternative in Uzbekistan is not a "Boris Yeltsin" as in Ukraine. It is a mix of very angry Muslim seculars and an even more angry mix of Muslim fundamentalists. They are angry because they are extremely "poor"! and surpressed! There is also a very hardened core of Chinese muslims residing in the Ferghana valley. They have been fighting the PLA for decades. The Uzbek army are not keen on taking this element on! Most Uzbek army regulars are Muslim and a lot are likely to be sympathetic with what is occurring in Uzbekistan. However Karimov has American money! Karimov relies on this money! As a consequence he will look to "The Bush Gang" to save him! Uzbekistan, along with Egypt is where the CIA fly important "Al Qaida" prisoners for torture. Karimov's regime is well paid for allowing this privelage. And just to make the situation really complicated, both the US and Russia have important "air" bases 50km apart in the country. The US uses its base for flying AWACS out of, to spy on Russia and particularly China, although they tell the rest of the world its for the "War on Terror" in Afghanistan! The Russian base is full of fighters to "shoot" down the AWACS if they stray into Russian airspace. The Chinese would "love" to have a base in Uzbekistan, if they could. The Russian base, interestingly, has a lot of Russian Muslims working there. Obviously to keep up apperances, but is rundown and lacking money by even Uzbeki standards. The US base is the "flashiest" thing seen in Uzbekistan. US forces "flash" their wealth around. The Muslim Fundamentalist's don't like this one bit! They are poor, the Anglo-Saxon's are rich! Not a "good" mix, in the medium term! I say "medium" because Karimov, i'm informed, will kill many Uzbeki's before he gives up power, particularly if backed by "Bush Gang" money.

[Theres-a]

45. kick

[Judi Lynn]

48. Uzbek opposition leader: Gov't killed 745

Posted on Tue, May. 17, 2005

Uzbek opposition leader: Gov't killed 745

Associated Press


TASHKENT, Uzbekistan - An Uzbek opposition leader said Tuesday that her party had compiled a list of 745 people killed by government troops in Uzbekistan.

Nigara Khidoyatova, the head of the Free Peasants party, said that government soldiers killed 542 people in Andijan and 203 people in Pakhtabad, another city in the Fergana Valley.

Khidoyatova said her party arrived at the figure by speaking to relatives of those killed and that the count is still continuing.
~end of article~

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/11665931.htm
(Free registration is required)

[Judi Lynn]

49. Gun shots sound in Uzbek town days after massacre

Gun shots sound in Uzbek town days after massacre
Tue May 17, 2005 4:59 AM ET

that some pockets of resistance remained four days after a massacre when troops suppressed a rebellion.

The United States, hardening its line on Uzbekistan which is an ally in the war on terrorism, said on Monday it was "deeply disturbed" by reports that soldiers fired on protesters last Friday in the mostly Muslim Central Asian state.

Residents of this leafy city of 300,000 have lain flowers on the parched pools of blood outside School No. 15 on Cholpon Avenue, where witnesses have told Reuters Uzbek troops gunned down hundreds of people, including women and children. "We are deeply disturbed by the reports that the Uzbek authorities fired on demonstrators," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters. "We certainly condemn the indiscriminate use of force against unarmed civilians and deeply regret any loss of life."

The rebellion in Andizhan, sparked by the trial of 23 Muslim businessmen and blamed by President Islam Karimov on Islamic extremists, has become the bloodiest chapter in the country's post-Soviet history.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-05-17T085943Z_01_N17507849_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-UZBEKISTAN-DC.XML



This is probably just killing Boucher. Surely he had NO IDEA so much filthy, underhanded violence was going on in _Bush's new acquisition.