resident Islam Karimov received 91.9 per cent of the votes in the Uzbek presidential elections held on 9th January, Najmiddin Komilov, the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of Uzbekistan, announced at a news conference held in the Uzbek capital on 10th January. He said Karimov received 11,147, 621 votes. Abdulhafiz Jalolov received 505,161 votes or 4.17 per cent of the votes. Komilov said that 470,417 ballot papers, or 3.52 per cent, were not valid. The most interesting and surprising thing in this election was that Karimov's opponent Jalolov gave his vote for the incumbent president.

oting began in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan on Sunday, where voters look set to hand president Islam Karimov five more years in power in a country where stability is seen as key amid ethnic and religious tension. The election has already been criticised abroad and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe refused to send an observer mission to the poll. The West says that Karimov's sole opponent, an obscure philosopher-cum-politician named Abdulkhafiz Dzhalalov, was added in order to give the election a gloss of democracy.

But such concerns do not seem to bother voters in Tashkent where a handful of people were already casting their ballot upon the start of polling at 6 a.m. (0100 GMT) on a snowy morning. "Voting has begun and we are expecting a very high turnout," said Shokhida Yokubzhonovna, head of the polling station in School no. 110 in Tashkent. "During the parliament election (in December) we had a 91-93 percent turnout at this polling station. We may even get 99 percent this time around," she added with a smile. Uzbekistan has defended the election, saying the criticism is unfounded as both contestants have been given equal chances. Over 12 million people are eligible to vote in the country of 24 million in the election which closes at 8 p.m. (1500 GMT). Among the key issues in the impoverished state are social order and improved living standards.

POPULAR AT HOME, CRITICISED ABROAD

Karimov is seen as the preferred choice on both counts. "I am carrying out my duty as a citizen," said 22-year-old Oxana Guven, who was the first to vote at School no. 110. "I voted for Islam Karimov. With him we will have peace, a guarantee of a good future and stability in the country." In an area increasingly rocked by ethnic and religious strife, Karimov's firm stand against Islamist fundamentalism has gone down well with the population. Former OSCE head Knut Vollebaek, warned recently that the resource-rich Central Asian region risks spawning violence worse than that in the Balkans if prompt action is not taken.

One blot on Uzbekistan's record, shattering the country's reputation for stability, came in February, when a series of Tashkent bomb blasts narrowly missed killing Karimov. The attack, which killed 16 people, was blamed on a hardline Islamist group. Despite Karimov's popularity at home, his image abroad has been tarnished by intolerance of political opposition, a flawed parliamentary election in December and isolationist economic policies which have hindered investment. The once promising Uzbek economy has foundered and average monthly wages at the black market currency rates are just $10. Western economists in Tashkent say that stern capital controls have stifled potentially large foreign investments in the key gold, metals and gas sectors though Karimov has promised to implement liberal reforms and remove controls this year. (Reuters)

zbek President Islam Karimov, whose tough leadership and cautious economic policies have isolated his ex-Soviet state from the West, vowed to pursue political and market reforms if re-elected on Sunday. The former Communist Party boss spoke to reporters after casting his vote in the pivotal Central Asian country's presidential poll, which he is set to win after being portrayed as the guarantor of stability amid ethnic and religious tension. "I believe that the main aim is to further liberalise all aspects of our lives, above all political, social and economic," the stocky leader said in the snow-covered capital Tashkent.

Speaking with rare candour, the 61-year-old said he would also do more to attract foreign investment to his resource-rich republic of 24 million people. "There is a need to broaden the scale and depth of privatisation and create conditions for foreign investors." The impoverished ex-Soviet state, where the average monthly wage is $10 at the black market exchange rate, has failed to match its northern neighbour Kazakhstan in attracting foreign capital. Uzbekistan is rich in gas and metals, but tight currency controls and a centralised economy have driven companies away.

KARIMOV TO PROMOTE CHECKS AND BALANCES

Karimov also said he would promote more checks and balances in the political arena which he dominated even before independence from Moscow in 1991. He enjoys extensive control over all branches of power and has silenced opposition parties by driving many members into exile. "I dream that we will have a system of checks and balances, so that people believe that however popular one or another leader is, the system of balances will work." He said the current political system in Uzbekistan relied too heavily on the "heroic deeds" of one or a few people, in what seemed to be remarks aimed at silencing Western criticism.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has refused to monitor the election, saying that the authorities had failed to give people a "genuine choice." The West says Karimov's sole opponent, an obscure philosopher-cum-politician named Abdulkhafiz Dzhalalov, was added in order to give the election a gloss of democracy. Despite his softer tone, there was no sign Karimov would stop his fight against what he sees as an extremist Islamic threat to Uzbekistan and the vast Central Asian region.

He vowed that "the fight against extremism and the expansion of fanaticism" would continue. Karimov narrowly escaped a series of bombs that went off in Tashkent last February. The blasts, which killed 16 people, were blamed by officials on radical Islamic opponents bent on overthrowing the Uzbek regime. The attack shattered the country's reputation for stability and raised fears of broader unrest. Karimov's tough stance against the suspected bombers -- six have been executed and many more arrested -- is backed by a nation worried by the threat of the kind of violence that has left neighbours Tajikistan and Afghanistan in ruins. (Reuters)

zbek voters Sunday began to cast their ballots in the presidential elections in the ex-Soviet and Central Asian country. The country has 12.7 million registered voters who were expected to vote for their next president at 7,800 polling stations. The two contenders are the incumbent President Islam Karimov, and Abdulkhafiz Dzhalalov, first secretary of the Central Council of the People's Democratic Party, one of the largest political parties with half a million members.

Karimov was nominated by the Fidokorlar (Dedicated) Party. His candidacy was also supported at the National Congress by the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party, the Vatan Trakiyeti (the Progress of the Motherland) Party and the Miliy Tiklanishi ( National Revival) Democratic Party. Nazhmitdin Kamilov, chairman of Uzbekistan's Central Electoral Commission, said the polling process will be monitored by more than 100 observers from foreign countries and international organizations. Observers believe that in the current poll voters are most likely to hand President Islam Karimov five more years in power, because in a state increasingly rocked by ethnic and religious strife, Karimov's firm stand against Islamist fundamentalism has gone down well with the population.

Among the key issues in the impoverished state, where stability is seen as priority amid ethnic and religious tension, are social order and the improvement of living standards. Most voters said that they will vote for Islam Karimov, believing that with him there will be peace, a guarantee of a good future and stability in the country. Voters in Tashkent, capital of the republic, started casting their ballot upon at 6 a.m. (0100 GMT) on a snowy morning, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

"Voting has begun and we are expecting a very high turnout," said Shokhida Yokubzhonovna, head of the polling station in School No. 110 in Tashkent. "During the parliamentary election in December we had a 91-93 percent turnout at this polling station. We may even get 99 percent this time around," she added with a smile. Over 12 million of the 24 million population in the country are eligible to vote in the election which will close at 8 p.m. (1500 GMT). Under the Constitution and the existing law, a president is elected for a five-year term and only for two terms in succession. The candidate winning more than 50 percent of the vote will be declared elected. If neither candidate wins the legal percentage, then a new election is called. The final results will be published no later than 10 days after the voting. But preliminary results were expected to be available early on Monday.

uhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf, who has been engaged in Islamic studies in the Arab Republic of Libya [Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah], has now visited Buloqboshi District of Andizhan Region [eastern Uzbekistan] to meet his relatives and fellow countrymen. He also met and had a conversation with TV correspondents in Fergana Region.

[Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf, speaking to a TV correspondent] I am proud to be a native of this country which has a great history and people. I am saying this as I have visited many countries which gained independence and I have also studied the situation and ongoing processes in those countries thoroughly. I visited countries which became independent 30, 40 and 50 years ago. And I compared the conditions in these before and after they gained independece. Praise be to God, the changes that have occurred in our country over the last eight years have been more fruitful than those in other countries which became independent before our country did. I am glad of this, and we should thank God for this. As we are all children of this country, each and every one of us must be ready to do everything within our power to ensure that our independent country develops and gets to the forefront of the nations of the world.

[Correspondent] During the conversation, the Batken events [hostage-taking in southern Kyrgyzstan beginning in August 1999] were also mentioned, and Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf expressed his attitude towards them as follows:

[Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf] No educated and intelligent religious leaders would make a positive assessment of these or other similar events. The prestige of Islam can never be raised by using force and weapons, by putting people in a difficult situation, by taking people hostage. This is a recurrent mistake. This is a vivid illustration of those who have been acting in this way being ignorant of the Islamic rules and code of conduct. All religious leaders have now started paying a great deal of attention to this. Because a group of youths who have been given no statutory Islamic education and have been trying on their own to assimilate Islamic information have taken this path. As a result, both informed people and uninitiated people formed the negative opinion that Islam supposedly means terrorism, Islam means violation of human rights, killing of people, violence and bloodshed. We discussed this on a number of occasions in the Robita Islamia [Islamic ties, relations]. A letter of advice was also sent to the Chechens, saying that they should stop doing this and mend their ways. Regrettably, they have chosen to listen not to senior clerics but to belligerent persons. Now you can see the consequences.

[Correspondent] During the conversation, he also expressed his views on the important events of today, namely the upcoming Ramadan holiday, Eid-al-Fitr, and presidential election.

[Muhammad Sodiq Muhammad Yusuf] I wish to congratulate all the people on this great holiday. I pray to God that our people will be happy and prosperous, that our country will enjoy stability and calm, that it will soon become one of the world's great nations, great states and that our people will reach their noble goals.

As for the second question, the election of the head of state, I am sure all the people will be taking an active part in this and will exercise to the full their right to vote. The candidates are known. In my opinion, the question of who is going to win is a superfluous one. The people's trusted son who has done so much for our people and cares for them, namely Islam Karimov, is one of the candidates. If I say God willing, a majority of people, all will vote for him, then it would be not just my opinion, or the opinion of the people of Uzbekistan but also that of people outside Uzbekistan who have been monitoring events here in our country. Therefore, I pray to God [a few words in Arabic] that our people stay well on election day and that they will reelect the man they love to the post of head of state.

eath sentences, passed on the six organizers of the terrorist acts, committed in Tashkent on 16th February, 1999, have been implemented in Uzbekistan, a high-ranking official of the Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office told Interfax on Friday. The trial for the organizers of the terrorist acts in Tashkent, as a result of which 16 people were killed and more than 100 others suffered injuries was held in Uzbekistan last summer.

inmeccanica SpA and British Aerospace PLC joint venture Alenia Marconi Systems said it has won a more than 50 bln lire order to supply air traffic control and management equipment for three Uzbek airports. The order was passed by Uzbekistan's civil aviation authorities to equip the airports of Samarkand, Urgench and Bukhara, it said. The project to modernise the country's air traffic system is financed by Japan's Overseas Export Credit Fund and is expected to be completed within 18 months, it said.