here are no political prisoners in Uzbek prisons, the Uzbek official newspaper 'Pravda Vostoka' reported on 24th August in an artcle giving official statistics on the country's penitentiary system.

"It should be especially noted that there are no people convicted for political reasons in the republic's establishments where sentences are served," the newspaper said.

There are 63,900 convicts in the republic's prisons against their planned capacity of 56,300, the report said. The largest proportion of this number, 23,100 people, or 36.1 per cent, "are serving punishment for theft", the report said. The second largest proportion, 15,000 people, or 23,100 people, are serving terms "for serious and especially serious crime" and the third largest proportion, 7,500 people, or 11.7 per cent, are serving terms "for drug-related crime", the report added.

Showing these statistics in a pie-chart breakdown of types of crimes committed by people serving prison sentences, the article did not specify what crimes the fourth largest proportion of convicts, 8 per cent, had committed: the legend on it said "others". Nor were any figures for it given.

Other figures included "economic crimes" standing at 6.2 per cent or 3,900 people, "hooliganism" - at 3.8 per cent or 2,400 people, "fraud" - at 2.4 per cent and "producing and spreading pornographic materials" at 2.3 per cent, the report said.

The article also mentioned the number of prisons and their types. "There are 47 [penitentiary] establishments functioning in the republic, of which 35 are colonies for serving sentences, one is a prison and 11 are remand detention centres," the report said. "Of 35 colonies, 12 are settled colonies where convicts are kept under supervision but without guard, five are colonies with a general regime, 10 with a special regime, one has with a strict regime, one is intended for convicts who are former officers of courts and law enforcement agencies, two are for holding and outpatient treatment of the convicts suffering from tuberculosis, two are for juvenile convicts and one is a multi-profile hospital intended for treating and containing sick convicts."

The article added that many "reformed" convicts had been freed under amnesty in recent years: 25,000 people were set free and prison terms were curtailed for 43,000 people in 1998-1999 under Uzbek President Islam Karimov's amnesty decrees, the report said. "Steps to amnesty convicts who started to reform are being planned in 2000, too," the report said in conclusion.

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zbek Deputy Prosecutor-General Azimjon Ergashev has said that terrorists infiltrating his country and their leaders "are criminals and cannot be regarded as opposition members".

The preliminary results of an investigation into the militant incursion in Surkhandarya Region and the findings of a forensic examination "indicated that there were traces of strong drugs, including heroin, in the blood of the terrorists killed", he said in an interview with Interfax on Thursday [24th August].

"This is more proof that they are not liberators of allegedly illegally convicted Muslims. Their purpose is to undermine stability in the republic and form a corridor for drug transit across the territory of Uzbekistan," Ergashev said.

He said some people have been detained in relation to the case and their interrogation confirms his opinion. The detainees call themselves members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, he said. One of the movement's leaders is Tohir Yoldosh, born in Namangan Region in 1967, the prosecutor's office said.

"In 1991-1992 he formed a criminal group and fought the constitutional system in the republic. He was the organizer of nine murders and 15 armed robberies in 1995-1997. Yoldosh fled from justice abroad, where he trained gangsters for new crimes," Ergashev said.

The other leader of the movement is Juma Namangoniy, born in 1969. "He has committed criminal actions in conspiracy with Tohir Yoldosh since 1991. During the past few years he has been training terrorists and sending them to Uzbekistan to stage acts of terrorism," Ergashev said.

Rasul Akhunov, who is considered Namangoniy's deputy, "now leads terrorist actions in Batken District of Kyrgyzstan", he said. "In 1991- 1992 he also belonged to a criminal gang," he said.

"Another group member is Namangoniy's security chief - (?Shukhrat Mamadaliyev), a native of Andizhan," Ergashev said. According to the prosecutor's office, in 1997 Mamadaliyev "committed a grave crime, killing five family members of an Andizhan regional traffic police officer".

One of the detainees "identified and named 115 rebels wanted by law-enforcement bodies for their crimes" in the process of the investigation, he said. "That is why we have every reason to call them a criminal gang hiding from justice. And they can in no way be called members of any opposition," he said. (Russian Interfax news agency, August 24)

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zbek Government troops have managed to halt the progress of gunmen from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) around 80 km from Tashkent. `Kommersant' was told by sources in the Uzbek power structures yesterday that the bandits were encircled and their liquidation would be imminent. The military believe that there are no more than 20 gunmen left alive. But the source of the tension will continue for some time to come - there are still several hundred IMU gunmen on Tajik territory neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Although the gunmen who had been breaking through to Tashkent have been surrounded, the capital is preparing its defences. Obstacles in the form of concrete blocks and equipped with machine-gun emplacements have been set up on routes into the city. From the military standpoint they are useless - nobody will launch an attack down a multi-lane highway. But it makes the proper impression on the civilian populace - the citizens can see that the intention is there to defend them.

It is not just near Tashkent that there has been fighting in Uzbekistan. Detachments of gunmen in Surkhandarya Region in the south have still not been mopped up. And even the presence of President Islam Karimov (who visited the combat operations region Tuesday) has not made it possible to fundamentally alter the situation. The president himself criticized the Uzbek military - in his view, the military did not take the complexity of the operation into account in the first few days, and their intention was to rapidly destroy the terrorists. As a result, the troops suffered unjustified losses - 12 serviceman have been killed since the start of August.

An operation to mop up gunmen is being conducted in southern Kyrgyzstan as well. According to information from the Kyrgyz power departments there is a detachment of extremists numbering up to 40 in Batken Region's Lyaylyak District. Combat operations are being conducted high in the mountains, which makes the government troops' task of liquidating the gunmen more difficult.

But the main reason why the fighting with the extremists is being delayed is that they are being reinforced with men, weapons, and money from neighbouring Tajikistan. `Kommersant' has already repeatedly named the patron of the gunmen within the Tajik leadership. It is Mirzo Ziyo, head of the republic's Emergencies Ministry and a former field commander. `Kommersant' has learned that, shortly before the fighting in southern Uzbekistan began, men loyal to Ziyo and IMU leader Juma Namangoniy stormed the Tajik Defence Ministry's main supply base in the settlement of Sagirdasht 210 km from Dushanbe. Ziyo sent some of the weapons captured to his own personal base on the Miyenadu [name as transliterated] state farm in Tavildara District as well as to his own detachment in Tojikobod. He is still keeping around 200 government soldiers prisoner there.

Since the IMU gunmen are funded from money from the drug mafia - to which a number of other top Tajik officials apart from Ziyo have links - it can be claimed with confidence that the hostilities will not end. All the more so as mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaydulloyev of Dushanbe and Ghaffor Mirzoyev, commander of the Presidential Guard, have already promised Juma Namangoniy that they will shelter his detachments in Tajikistan's Soghd Region if they are driven out of Uzbekistan. (Russian newspaper "Kommersant", August 24)

ccording to reports received from reliable sources, fresh armed clashes took place between Islamic fighters and government forces in Uzbekistan on the night of 23rd-24th August. Groups of fighters eight strong attacked government institutions in Andijan Region [in eastern Uzbekistan]. One high-ranking official of the Andijan Region Internal Affairs Department was killed during the operation to wipe out this bandit grouping. There have been no reports about the results of the action to wipe out the group or about other casualties on either side.

According to unconfirmed reports, the Uzbek government forces used armoured fighting vehicles and aviation in the armed clash northeast of Tashkent. One tank was damaged in the afternoon's fighting. The attacking fighters were forced to retreat and, according to intelligence, headed for the Chatkal mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz Interior Ministry officials report that a task force has been set up from Kyrgyz and Uzbek special units to wipe out the illegal armed formations, estimated to be 100-strong, who are active on the border between the two states. (Kyrgyz news agency Kabar, August 24)

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hinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian said here today that China is willing to strengthen military exchanges and cooperation with Uzbekistan. Chi, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a state councillor, made the remarks in talks with visiting Defence Minister of Uzbekistan Yuriy Agzamov.

China-Uzbekistan relations have been developing smoothly since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, Chi said, adding that the two sides have maintained close high-level contacts.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with Uzbekistani President Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov at the "Shanghai Five" summit held in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe in July. The two presidents reached broad consensus, Chi said. Agzamov's current visit to China is an important follow-up step to the achievements of the meeting between the two heads of state, the Chinese defence minister said.

China and Uzbekistan share the same or similar views and have common interests on many major international and regional issues, according to Chi. China is willing to work with Uzbekistan within the framework of bilateral relations and the "Shanghai Five" summit to safeguard peace and stability and to promote cooperation and development in the region, Chi said.

China will also be happy to strengthen its military relations with Uzbekistan and try to upgrade the friendly cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries, Chi said.

Agzamov said that he agrees with Chi that the relations between the two countries have been developing quickly in recent years. He said that the frequent two-way visits at all levels have expanded the mutual cooperation and also laid a solid foundation for the further development of bilateral ties.

Agzamov said that his country will stick to the one-China policy and maintains that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. Both countries face the task of developing their national economies and hope for a peaceful and stable environment, he said. Agzamov briefed the Chinese side on Uzbekistan's domestic situation and the situation in central Asia.

Prior to the talks, Chi held a welcoming ceremony for Agzamov. Agzamov arrived in Beijing Wednesday [23rd August] for a four-day goodwill visit to China at the invitation of Chi. (Chinese news agency Xinhua, August 24)

zbek President Islam Karimov visited the Embassy of Russian in capital Tashkent to express his condolences to the Russian president and people in connection with the death of the Kursk nuclear submarine crew. He wrote down his deep condolences in the condolences book there.

Two of the sunken Kursk crew members, Capt-Lt Rashid Aryanov and warrant officer Sergey Rychkov, had relatives in Tashkent and Samarkand regions. Aryanov had a father, a mother and a brother and Rychkov had a mother and a sister. All of them with the assistance of the Russian Embassy and the Uzbek government were rendered a financial help to travel to Moscow and then to the place of tragedy.

President Karimov said that the relatives of the perished seamen would receive all the necessary moral and financial help from the government. At the same day the government decreed to pay them the amount equal to fifty-times of the wage of servicemen. (Uzbek TV, August 24)

oscow is ready to provide military-technical assistance to Tashkent in wiping out the extremist groups that have invaded Uzbek territory, a high-ranking Russian military official has said.

"If we receive an appeal for help, we are ready to consider it promptly and make a decision providing assistance to our friends in wiping out the bandit formations," First Deputy Russian Chief of General Staff Col-Gen Valeriy Manilov told a Thursday [24th August] news briefing in Moscow.

At the moment, "the situation [in southern Uzbekistan] is under control", Manilov said. "The Uzbek armed forces and special services are carrying out a set of measures to complete the elimination of the bandit formations," he noted. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 24)

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zbek customs officers have seized nearly 20 kg of gunpowder from a passenger who has arrived by a Moscow-Tashkent train at the Northern railway station of the capital, Tashkent, the `Pravda Vostoka' newspaper reported on 23rd August.

It said that a customs officer singled out the passenger, who was carrying "a big box", because of his "inadequate" behaviour. "In all 19.9 kg of gunpowder were found in the box as a result of an inspection. Explosive substances experts from the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that this amount of gunpowder was equal to 200 g of TNT, which is quite enough to blow up a big building," the paper said, adding that an investigation into the case was under way.

"Recently we have been taking the toughest measures to prevents any kind of smuggling, especially of weapons, explosives, subversive literature and drugs," a customs officer, identified as Odamboy Masharipov, told the paper.

he law-enforcement agencies and border guard troops in South Kazakhstan Region were put on high alert on Wednesday [23rd August], a deputy head of the Region's main police department, Talgat Kubelekov, told the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency today.

The step was taken in connection with the clashes which had taken place between Uzbek government troops and a group of international terrorists in Bostanlyk District of Tashkent Region (100 km northeast of the capital, Tashkent), which borders on South Kazakhstan Region, earlier this week, he said. (Kazakh news agency Interfax-Kazakhstan, August 24)

oreign investment in Uzbekistan's air transport has exceeded 1bn dollars since 1995.

This investment went into airport infrastructure, air traffic control systems, Western-made airliners and training of flight crews, the general director of the national aviation company of Uzbekistan [Uzbekistan Airways], Arslan Ruzmetov, told Interfax...

Now Thomson-CSF is concluding the second, 19.3m-dollars phase of the modernization of Uzbekistan's air traffic control systems. A base satellite communications station will be built in Tashkent and two radar stations will be set up in the north and south of the country, allowing Uzbekistan to control traffic in its airspace. Sumitomo Corporation is providing the financing.

The refurbishment of the Bukhara, Samarkand and Urgench airports is to be completed this year. The Japanese government has provided a loan of over 18bn yen to finance the project. The national aviation company's fleet includes 11 Western planes, including five Boeings, three A310 Airbuses and three RJ85 medium-range liners. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 24)

umaboy Ahmadjonovich Khojiyev, born in 1969, a native of [Eastern Uzbek] Namangan Region, a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Uzbek [by nationality], married with one child. He is known among religious extremists under the nicknames of Juma Namangoniy and Tojiboy.

In 1978 [as given, presumably should be 1987], he was called up for [military] service in the Soviet Army and served it in the limited contingent of [Soviet] troops in Afghanistan. From 1989 on he took up studying the canons of Islam and received spiritual education from the well-known religious conformist reactionary Abduvali Mirzoyev, Abduvali qori [a religious title, a person who can cite the Koran from memory]. From 1991 on Khojiyev became an active supporter of Wahhabism in order to establish an Islamic state in Uzbekistan and together with Tohir Yoldosh became one of the organizers of the Tavba [Repentance] Wahhabi organization in the town of Namangan. The aim of the organization is to build an Islamic state in Uzbekistan by way of propagating Islamic ideas, hampering the legal activities of the constitutional organs of power and replacing them with parallel structures not envisaged in [Uzbekistan's] constitution, stirring up ethnic and sectarian enmity and destabilizing the social and political situation in the country through terror.

In 1992, he voluntarily arrived in [former] Kurgan-Tyube Region [now Khatlon Region] in [southern] Tajikistan with a group of 30 like-minded persons and took part in combat actions against [Tajik] government troops on the side of opposition forces. In 1992, he crossed Panj River onto the territory of neighbouring Afghanistan where he underwent special training under the guidance of foreign instructors. Also, he and his group visited Aghanistan on many occasions between 1993 and 1995. In 1994, the armed formation under Khojiyev's command was especially active in combat actions against the government troops of the Republic of Tajikistan. There were also Arab and Afghan mojahedin in the formation.

Khojiyev is the creator and a field commander of a fighting armed formation on Tajikistan's territory. He is intensively engaged in training young people, including citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, for sabotage and terrorist activities.

One of the groups of gunmen who underwent military training in Khojiyev's camp in Tavildara village [170 km southeast of Dushanbe] was exposed and detained in 1997 when going to Uzbekistan's Andijon Region with explosives, ammunitions and instructions. Fifteen people were convicted. He took part in discussions in Turkey and Afghanistan on ways to seize power in Uzbekistan in May, July and November 1997 and in December 1998. Coming to the conclusion that it was impossible to come to power democratically, the participants of the discussions took a decision to unite the efforts of the so-called "democratic opposition" and armed militants, supporters of a "jihad" [holy war]. (Kyrgyz newspaper "Res Publica", August 23)

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nits and subdivisions of Kyrgyzstan's Southern Group of Troops are continuing to man guard posts and to set ambushes and listening posts. The situation in the area infiltrated by bandit formations has not changed over the past 24 hours.

The delivery of food and ammunition supplies and warm clothes is continuing in all directions. An exchange of fire took place at 2123 [1523 gmt] on 22nd August 2000 in the area of the Ozgorush checkpoint in the Lyaylyak direction. There were no casualties among Kyrgyz troops.

The joint statement issued at the end of the summit of the heads of Central Asian states [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan] with the participation of the Russian president's special envoy [Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Ivanov] in Bishkek, came into effect on 21st August, the day following the summit. Kyrgyz and Uzbek subdivisions have launched joint reconnaissance and combat operations in a border section between Kyrgyz Dzhalal-Abad Region and Uzbek Tashkent Region, aiming at blockading and eliminating the bandit formations.

To the same end, a task force group has been set up by decree of the commander-in-chief, the Kyrgyz president, out of the Defence and Interior ministries' subdivisions. A deputy interior minister, Police Maj-Gen Kalmurat Sadiyev, has been appointed commander of the task force group.

According to the latest reports, the joint coordinated actions may prove to be an effective way to combat international terrorism. This shows how timely and important the Bishkek summit and the decisions made at the summit were. (Kyrgyz news agency Kabar, August 23)

he authorities in Uzbekistan say a heavy gun battle took place overnight on Tuesday (up to early hours to Wednesday) between police and a group of armed Terrorists in Izboskan District, near the eastern town of Andijan.

According to local officials, police exchanged fire for several hours with the gunmen who fired on them from inside a house. Residents living nearby say they were evacuated. Officials say one policeman was killed during the shootout, and several serviceman were injured. Officials also say that eight armed terrorist members were killed, and two were arrested. (August 24)

p to 200 Islamist gunmen who entered Uzbekistan last weekend have advanced to within 100 kms (62 miles) of the capital Tashkent, a government source said on Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source told Reuters the gunmen were believed to be holed up near the holiday resort of Bostanlyk, northeast of Tashkent. He said they had killed several Uzbek soldiers and taken four hostages in a Saturday gunbattle with guards patrolling the country's border with Kyrgyzstan. Official confirmation of the report could not be received.

The gunmen were thought to have crossed into Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan, which they entered from a third ex-Soviet republic, Tajikistan. The three states share borders in a rugged mountainous area which has proved extremely difficult to police. The government source said artillery and troops were being moved to Bostanlyk. Health spas in the region have been evacuated of holidaymakers and roads leading to Tashkent are being closely guarded, he added.

"The area has been surrounded but we have so far failed to locate the gunmen."

The gunmen are said to be members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a fundamentalist Moslem group which opposes President Islam Karimov's secular rule and is believed to have bases in the remote mountains of Tajikistan.

One of its leaders, Dzhuma Namangani, was allegedly behind an incursion into Kyrgyzstan last year. The gunmen said at the time they planned to cross to Uzbekistan to overthrow Karimov. The advance to Bostanlyk came two weeks of fierce fighting with the Kyrgyz army. Leaders of four Central Asian states vowed to step up cooperation to repulse the attacks.

Earlier this month, a rebel group entered Uzbekistan's Sukhandarya province from Tajikistan. At least 12 Uzbek soldiers have died in the operation to cleanse the region of rebels. Central Asian leaders accuse Afghanistan's ruling Taleban militia of harbouring and training Islamists. The Taleban has said it provides only moral support. (Reuters, August 23)

he first deputy interior minister of Uzbekistan, Bahodir Matlubov, called upon the population on Uzbek National TV for vigilance. He asked them to immediately report to internal affairs directorates on suspicious persons in residential blocks, streets and villages. (August 24)

n 22n August the Uzbek president visited the area of armed clashes with Islamic militants in the south of the country and talked to the troops involved in the military operations. Speaking to journalists at Tashkent airport on his return from the area, Islam Karimov said that one should not expect a quick end to the clashes in Surkhandarya Region, although there were only about 10-20 militants there now. He said the conditions were hard in the mountains for any military actions and he wanted the troops to avoid any losses. Karimov also said a similar situation had emerged 100 km northeast of the capital, Tashkent, where a 15-strong armed group clashed with government troops. Karimov promised comprehensive aid to Tajikistan to rebuild it after the civil war in exchange for cooperation in stopping militants from crossing to Uzbekistan from that country. The following are excerpts from a special Uzbek TV programme the same day on the president's visit to Surkhandarya:

[Presenter] Respected television viewers, today the Uzbek president, Islam Karimov, visited mountainous Uzun and Saryassiya districts of [southern] Surkhandarya Region to study the progress of the combat operations to eliminate the terrorist and extremist groups, which have infiltrated our country. Here is our report on this.

[Correspondent] After his visit to Saryassiya and Uzun district, president Islam Karimov spoke to journalists at Tashkent airport.

[Question] Our people are worried about the events in Surkhandarya, at the same time they are angry at the actions of the international terrorists. You closely studied the situation today. What can you say about the combat readiness of our servicemen? How would you assess the situation there?

[Karimov] In general, the conditions in these mountains are very difficult, I thinks it will be very difficult to destroy and clean our soil from the militants, who have infiltrated our land with evil intentions - it would be correct to call them scorpions, - as they have undergone special training and fortified their positions beforehand.

Believe it or not, there are such 1 km long tunnels there: you enter one in one place and come out in another. Today I saw the maps. I talked to many people today, ordinary soldiers, officers and their commanders. This is not a simple operation and it cannot be carried out very quickly. It is really difficult. A single group positioned in a tunnel, for example, can resist hundreds of men.

Proceeding from this, I can draw a conclusion that our servicemen, above all commanders, did not take this into account during the first days. You all can remember that during the first days of the operations to wipe them out we lost, we can say this without any doubt, our bravest young men. Of course, we will analyse everything after the completion of the operations - the reasons and what mistakes were made. The point is not to find those guilty. The point is that such military operations require a clever approach. We are in our own land and our own soil, it is the enemy who entered our territory, we must think thoroughly and measure seven times before cutting, as an Uzbek proverb goes, and we would not have suffered such losses if we had approached the military operation this way.

In this connection, our people should know about the situation. Above all, addressing the parents of the officers and servicemen who are taking part in the combat operations in Surkhandarya, [I'd like to say] we will not allow such mistakes to be made again. That is, the situation is such that in these precipices [changed track] and it is difficult to determine their [militant's] number - although according to military estimates, there are some 10 to 20 villains who are holding their positions and still putting up resistance. Of course, we are able to put an end to all this, to eliminate them all.

However, as leader and president, I did not instruct our servicemen to destroy [the militants] in two, five or 10 days. No. This would have been a stupid thing to do. We are protecting our own land, so why should we rush? I think that you will pass on to our people what I said there [in Surkhandarya] today. I told our servicemen that I never set such stupid tasks before anyone. After fortifying our positions, placing everything, if need be, using available weapons, equipment and helicopters, we are able, I repeat once more, we have enough power, enough wisdom [to destroy militants]. We should be skillful, we should not use the methods used during the Afghan war, when soldiers were lined up and given an order to advance. I would like to conclude my thoughts by saying that they [the militants] have been blockaded, they cannot escape anywhere. However, I told them that we should take care of our officers and servicemen and successfully complete this military operation.

You have asked about our men's mood. They are in good spirits.

Our reports from the areas of combat operations should be fair, we should tell only the truth. We should tell about our shortcomings as well. Why this is happening and why we are suffering losses? Our journalists should report all this openly.

I should say one thing openly. Our people, the public should know that apart from the events in Saryassiya, the combat operations taking place in Saryassiya, the operations to destroy the evil forces, militants, scorpions, monsters who have infiltrated our country through our southern borders, a similar situation has emerged in other areas bordering on Tajikistan. I should say this openly looking into the eyes of my people. People, my people, we should always remember how serious the situation is and what threats it might pose. Why? The events that have been taking place in Surkhandarya is part of evil plans. They all are connected with one another. What are the reasons and who and what forces are standing behind this? What are their purposes and intentions? How, with what support and why they set themselves a task to infringe upon our peaceful life? What sections of our borders they are planning to violate? What forces are being trained for this and who is supporting them? How powerful are these forces? How strong are these groups? Where do they gather, in what centres? I should know their plans, because I am the president, the leader, and I call on other leaders to do the same.

From this point of view, I should tell our people about one report. From the beginning of August in [Tajik] Leninobod [now Soghd] Region, about between 15 to 20 militants from Jirgatol, Jirgatol is in southern Tajikistan, it is a mountainous area next to the Afghan border [changes track] We know that there are militants' centres there. There are Afghans, or what do you call them, Pashto or Arabs, many of them are staying there and drawing their plans. They are undergoing training there to carry out their evil plans, they are arming themselves. Just listen - they cross the whole territory of Tajikistan, beginning from Gharm [central Tajikistan], then Romit [central Tajikistan] and enter Leninobod Region, then from Adrasmon [Soghd Region] to Navgarzon [Soghd Region, border area with Tashkent Region's town of Angren].

For about 20-25 days now we have been working together with the Tajik leadership, jointly with their military forces, security service, heads of military units. I should say this openly, we are working together in order to find them [the militants] more quickly and destroy them. However, this is Tajik territory, and you understand that we have no right to enter their territory. We can help them. We have reports that these groups are in Asht District [near Angren, 100 km east of Tashkent] and looking for ways to cross our borders. We have received this report about 20-25 days ago. I will say once again that we have been working jointly with the Leninobod Region authorities, the military forces there, border guards, with the leadership in Dushanbe [Tajik capital]. I had a telephone conversation with [Tajik President] Emomali Rahmonov, to prevent all this.

However, what I am going to tell you now is that they, like scorpions, have found a way to cross our border. At present in Tashkent Region, in the Chatkal mountains, near the border with [Kyrgyz] Dzhalal-Abad [Region] - you remember that last year 14 of them crossed the border - now we have reports that about 15 of them are hiding in those areas, like mad dogs. What troubles they may bring to us? We are taking all measures to prevent this. We have set up headquarters in Burchmulla [Tashkent Region] where we have quite powerful forces, including large military units. We are taking all measures to find and destroy them. I have to tell the people in Tashkent Region, in the city of Tashkent about this. We have nothing to conceal from them.

I should say this openly and let people in Leninobod, our friends and brothers hear me. Who helped you in your hardest days, when you were short of bread, when you did not have a handful of flour? Who stood shoulder to shoulder with you to help avoid starvation and overcome losses and the war? Who was the first to give you a helping hand? Who supported you? You all understand and know what I mean.

Recently, after our visit [to Tajikistan] we decided to open roads, our gates, railways and other roads. We are generous people. It is in our plans to help you, to cooperate with you and build our future together. If I were asked to say who is the closest nation to the Tajik people, I would say this is the Uzbek people. Because they are one nation speaking two languages. Our roots are the same.

Well, I had only one condition. I will open everything, do everything what I can, we will not spare anything, we are ready to help overcome all the problems [in Tajikistan], including the present drought, water shortage and all other problems. However, I had one and only condition: guarantee our security, close the borders for evil forces, let these various bearded scoundrels not cross to our territory, do not let these thugs and robbers, who ruined your lives for nine years, enter your territory, do not let them approach our borders and cross to our country!

I am addressing the people of Leninobod Region, the Uzbeks and Tajiks who live there, let them hear me. We have common roots. I am going to repeat my one and only condition. My condition was, I asked you earnestly: we will open all our borders, our hearts, only do not let those scoundrels in. Has it been difficult for the Tajik people to meet our fair demand and condition? Has it been difficult for Tajik citizens? Is this condition fair or not? Every nation wants peace. They [militants] are in Leninobod Region. We have no objections against that. But, block the routes the villains use, detain them for us, and we will give them a good lesson. Let us fight for our peace together. For example, could not Tajiks and Uzbeks in Asht District stop these 15 scoundrels who have infiltrated Tashkent Region from Leninobod? You could. Why are they crossing to our territory from your territory and upsetting our peace? Why? Is my question fair or not?

My policy, my approach concerning interference into internal affairs of Tajikistan is clear. No-one has ever been against Tajikistan's policies. I have never been against my friend Emomali Rahmonov's policies and I would like to repeat what I said there [in Tajikistan]: we all are ready to support Emomali Rahmonov, I personally am ready. We are ready to help, to support, to establish peace in his country as soon as possible. No-one will obstruct his efforts to ensure prosperity in Tajikistan. We will help him as much as we can. We are a nation of 25m people. We have great power and opportunities, we will not spare anything, because if there is peace in the land of our neighbours, there will peace in our land as well.

The last thing I would like to say is that we should rely on our own forces. No-one will come from abroad and help us, never.

eaders of the Central Asian states have called for Russia's support in their common fight against Islamic militants, but in the wake of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster, Moscow may not be in a position to help address the region's security problems, say analysts.

In the aftermath of the Aug. 12 sinking of the Kursk, it appears uncertain whether the Russian military can commit to addressing the security concerns of the volatile region at this time, they say. The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan gathered at a meeting in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Aug. 20 and decided to join forces to combat "terrorism, political and religious extremism and cross-border organized crime as well as other threats to stability and security."

The Central Asian leaders adopted a statement calling for Moscow's support and better protection of the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Russia could become a major force in ensuring stability and security in Central Asia, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. The Central Asian leaders raised the question of Russian military aid at the meeting. Akayev specifically urged Moscow to help strengthen Kyrgyzstan's air force, which now has just one Mi-8 helicopter, obviously not enough to fight well-armed rebels in the mountainous terrain.

But the Russian delegation, led by Security Council head Sergei Ivanov, gave a muted response, refraining from any firm commitments. In light of the horrible naval disaster, which highlighted acute underfunding of the Russian armed forces, Moscow seems reluctant to get directly involved in central Asian struggles -- despite earlier pledges. The government faces the grim task of recovering bodies of 118 sailors trapped in the submarine at the bottom of the Barents Sea. Russian officials are also considering ways to raise the Kursk, an operation that will cost a substantial amount. It was no coincidence that the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek was the venue of the summit. Since early August, dozens of well-armed Islamic rebels have crossed into the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan from neighboring Tajikistan and engaged government troops.

As the insurgents -- mainly mercenary snipers, according to Kyrgyz officials -- penetrated some five to six miles into the Batken district of Kyrgyzstan, fighting broke out, killing at least 20 government soldiers and an unknown number of rebels. The rebels were reported to be part of the Tajik-based Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan led by Jumaboi Namangani from bases in nearby Tajikistan. They are demanding the release of Muslims in Uzbek prisons whom they believe to be falsely charged, and the establishment of Sharia law in the country.

The movement opposes Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who has clamped down on what he sees as a threat to his country's security from Islamic extremism. Clashes with Islamic fighters broke out Aug. 7 in Surkhandarya, Uzbekistan, and the government attacked rebels, using air strikes, artillery and mortar fire. The hostilities widened on Aug. 11, as Tajikistan-based fighters attacked the Batken district of Kyrgyzstan, 350 kms northeast of Surkhandarya, located near the Tajik-Kyrgyz border.

The fighters sought to enter Uzbekistan from the north through Kyrgyzstan. This is the second time in a year that political violence has seized Central Asia. Last August, a group of armed militants attacked Batken, seizing hostages they later released. As fighting escalated in Central Asia, New York-based Human Rights Watch on Aug. 17 urged both governments and the Islamic insurgents must respect the rules of armed conflict.

"All parties to this conflict have to do everything to avoid civilian casualties. Now that air strikes are involved, the risk to civilian lives is even greater," said Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. In a yet another sign of tension, yesterday the militants attacked a border guard post in Uzbekistan's Bostanlyk district, some 100 kms east of the capital Tashkent.

Several soldiers were killed or taken hostage by the assailants. According to Uzbek intelligence estimates, up to 2,000 militants of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are based in Tajikistan, and could join future attacks against the government. On Aug. 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern about the fighting in Central Asia. The Kremlin has long been concerned over the perceived security threat from the Islamic militants, notably from the breakaway region of Chechnya.

Chechen "terrorists" were accused of instigating a recent bomb attack in Moscow. Putin has managed to secure somewhat muted support for its drive to wipe out Chechen "terrorists" from predominantly authoritarian leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). A CIS summit was held in Moscow last January to discuss plans of cooperation to combat religious extremism. The leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan proposed drawing up a program to fight "terrorism" and extremism, including the formation of a joint anti-terrorist center to combat extremism throughout the CIS.

Central Asian leaders were probably inspired by Putin's notorious promise "to kill terrorists in the toilets." It was he who suggested that some CIS states hold joint military exercises in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to prepare for fighting extremists last spring -- but "anti-terrorist" maneuvers failed to materialize. Instead, on Aug. 22, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan began joint air defense maneuvers in Astrakhan region, Southern Russia. The exercises are to end on Aug. 26.

In May 1998, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan formed a "troika" with Russia to fight fundamentalism and Wahabism, a conservative brand of Sunni Islam they said threatened Central Asia and Russia's North Caucasus. The leaders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have accused Afghanistan of hosting underground centers, training Islamic militants who then disturb the peace in their states. Russia keeps a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force in Tajikistan, helping patrol the volatile republic's border with Afghanistan, controlled by the ultra-conservative Taliban.

Uzbekistan has carried out a tough campaign against alleged Islamic fundamentalists, or Wahabis. It has launched an anti- Islamic crackdown in an apparent response to the explosions in February 1999 that rocked the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. In April 1999, Russia and Tajikistan signed a treaty on alliance and partnership in Moscow, and clinched a deal to set up a Russian military base in Tajikistan.

Uzbekistan President Karimov had earlier voiced concern about a Russian military build-up in Tajikistan, but he seemed to have changed his position, dropping objections against Russia's increased military role in the region.

Equally, for Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov, a call for Russia's support signifies a visible shift in his earlier stance when he expressed his country's neutrality and reluctance to be bound any forms of post-Soviet integration.

Dmitry Mosyakov, a senior researcher at the Moscow think-tank Institute of Oriental Studies, says that Central Asian leaders openly advocate their independence from former "elder brother" Russia. But when facing a security threat, external or domestic, real or imagined, they tend to seek Russian support. (IPS, August 23)

he national coordinators of GUUAM, a regional association comprising Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldavia, are to meet here on Thursday. A Georgian Foreign Ministry official has told Itar-Tass that those present will discuss the basic orientations for the development of cooperation in GUUAM, specifically in the spheres of the economy, trade, transport, tourism and culture. Special attention is to be devoted to matters connected with the development of the Euro-Asian transportation corridor. According to preliminary data, participants in the meeting are also to study possibilities for establishing a Free Trade Area within GUUAM framework. (Itar-Tass, August 24)

yrgyz and Uzbek army detachments have started joint "search-and-reconnaissance and combat operations" against Islamic terrorists, a [Kyrgyz] Defence Ministry press officer told RIA.

Joint operations will be carried out in the sector between the Dzhalalabad Region of Kyrgyzstan and Tashkent Region of Uzbekistan. Thus the results of the Central Asian summit held on 20th August in Bishkek will be implemented. Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan stressed the necessity of joint actions against terrorism in the region.

The situation in the south of Kyrgyzstan, where fighting with Islamic militants at the Tajik border continues since 11th August, "remains unchanged", the officer said. It has been relatively quite there for the last three days. (Russian news agency RIA, August 23)

n 21st August, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem had a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov of Uzbekistan in connection with the terrorist incidents there. Cem told Komilov that Turkey strongly condemned the terrorist attacks against Uzbekistan.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Ismail Cem told Komilov that Turkey would continue with resolve to bring the developments in the region to the attention of the international community, and that it would continue to make bilateral and multilateral efforts both with Uzbekistan and with the entire region to prevent terrorism.

The Foreign Ministry statement says that Komilov had found the telephone conversation he had with Cem very valuable and that he would brief President Karimov on it. Furthermore, the two foreign ministers agreed to develop cooperation between the two countries in the struggle against international terrorism. (Turkish TV, August 22)

group of international terrorists have broken through the Uzbek state border and entered the Bostanlyk District in the highlands of Tashkent Region. Border guards from one of the local border guard units attempted to stop the terrorists. In a shoot-out which followed two border guard have been killed, and three others taken hostage by the terrorists, according to unconfirmed reports. A well-informed source has reported that one of the captive border guards managed to escape.

Now, units of the Defence and Interior Ministries have been brought to the area of the incident. An onlooker on vacation at a local sanatorium Crystal situated in this health resort area said that helicopters of the Uzbek air force had been patrolling the area.

All the vacationers staying at the Crystal and other nearby recreation centres numbering several dozens have been urgently evacuated from the hazardous area. Almost twenty summer recreation camps for children have been almost immediately vacated although the children were to stay there for one more week.

Efforts made by ITAR-TASS throughout Tuesday [22nd August] to obtain official information about the incident from the Uzbek power structures have been to no avail. The atmosphere of silence and secrecy has aroused fear and concern among local residents both in the Bostanlyk District and the Uzbek capital. (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, August 23)

he Asian Football Confederation has confirmed its satisfaction over Lebanon's readiness to host the 2000 Asian Cup competition in October. Lebanon has that all facilities would be completed by September 15. Uzbekistan will play in group “C” against defending champions Saudi Arabia, best ranked Asian team Japan, and strong Qatar.

Games will start on October 12, and Uzbek team will play their first game against Qatar two days later. Final will be played on October 29.

he Indian embassy in Tashkent has complained to the Union Home Ministry about sex workers from Uzbekistan and some other Central Asian countries plying their trade here. The complaint listed 13 seedy hotels in Central and South Delhi used by these “tourist-traders”. Many of the hotels on the list are in the by-lanes of Paharganj, where room rates range from Rs 150 to Rs 500 per day. DCP Crime P K Srivasatava said the Delhi Police have been sent the complaint but confined his comment to “investigations are on”.

The embassy letter says: “We have noticed in recent months that a significant percentage of visa applicants are young women in the age group of 18 to 30, who spend a month at a stretch in Delhi. This sets them apart from routine shoppers, who spend only three to four days at a time in Delhi. The normal shopper avoids staying longer than that because larger boarding or lodging costs would cut into profits made from each trip”.

The embassy letter has singled out a Central Delhi hotel as the most-dubious of the lot. Local policemen, we discovered, readily rattled off names of several such dubious hotels. The “tourists” do not know English or any Indian language, and deals are brokered through interpreters, who double in as middlemen. The middlemen often stay at the hotel and also help hawk stuff such as carpets and bric-a-brac that the women bring in. Currently, the item most sought from the Uzbek tourists here is tungsten wire. There is also demand for diamond powder, brought to India via Uzbekistan from Kazhakstan and Russia.

The embassy’s complaint also says that spurious Indian drugs change hands in the hotels of infamy. A large number of pharmacies in Tashkent are said to be flooded with spurious Indian drugs, some of which even figure on the list of contraband items. Significantly, the local police appear to be in cahoots with the hotel managements and staff. Asked about this, JCP Northern Range Ajay Chaddha said: “We are looking into it”. (New Delhi, August 22)

onsumer prices in Uzbekistan dropped by 0.8 per cent in July following deflation of 2.5 per cent in June, the Ministry of Macroeconomics and Statistics reported.

Deflation in the summer months is typical for Uzbekistan. Prices fell by 0.7 per cent in July 1999. There was inflation of 1.4 per cent in May this year.

Prices in July 2000 fell 1.7 per cent for foodstuffs after dropping 4 per cent in June. Prices rose by 1 per cent for nonfood goods and 1.5 per cent for services in July, compared to price increases of respectively 0.6 per cent and 2.4 per cent in June. Monthly inflation averaged 1.1 per cent in the first seven months of this year, down from 1.6 per cent in the same period of 1999. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 23)

group of about 15 rebels has attacked a government border post in Bostanlyk District, some 100 kilometres from Tashkent in northeast Uzbekistan, sources in Uzbek law enforcement agencies have told Interfax.

The government troops have suffered losses. Several servicemen have been taken hostage and an operation to track down the terrorists has been launched.

There are many recreation centres and children's camps in this district. The vacationers are being evacuated. The border detachments and the interior troops are on alert. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 22)

clash took place between subdivisions of Uzbek government troops and an unidentified armed group of about 15 men in the northeast of Tashkent Region on the night of 18th-19th August, according to military reports. The clash took place near the (?Busmola) [presumably Burchmula] settlement, about 100 km from the Uzbek capital [Tashkent]. According to official reports, as a result of the clash, the armed bandit group was broken up, however two Uzbek border guards were killed and four others were taken hostage. There are no reports about casualties among the attackers. Some restrictions have been introduced on the movement of civilians in the incident area. Measures are being taken to step up security and government forces are being pulled in. The Uzbek authorities said earlier that government forces were fully controlling the pass which links the Fergana Valley with Tashkent Region. However, they have not denied that there have been armed clashes. (Kyrgyz news agency Kabar, August 22)

ollowing his Tuesday's [22nd August] visit to Surkhandarya district in southern Uzbekistan, which was raided by international terrorists earlier in August, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said that the operation to eliminate the rebels will be difficult and will take time.

"The military did not assess the complexity of this operation correctly at its initial stage and were determined to deal with the terrorists quickly. As a result, we have suffered unjustified losses. These mistakes must not be repeated," Karimov said.

Citing military sources, Karimov said that no more than 20 rebels are hiding in the mountains. "But they continue putting up resistance. They must be tracked down, but no haste should be made in doing so," the Uzbek president said.

He said he is not demanding the military to do their job quickly. "What I want is a well-considered and step-by-step military operation," he said.

He urged the citizens of Uzbekistan to be vigilant. "Everyone must take measures to safeguard peace and tranquility," Karimov said.

"There are rebel forces trying to cross into Uzbekistan from Tajikistan," he said, pointing out that joint efforts must be made to eliminate the extremists.

According to official reports, 12 Uzbek servicemen have been killed since the beginning of August when a military operation was launched against the rebels. No more than 70 terrorists have crossed into Uzbekistan. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 22)

he association Uzbek Ipagi has announced a tender to re-equip 10 silk plants in the republic, at a total cost of about $15 million, a source in the export-import company Ipak Impex (part of Uzbek Ipagi) told Interfax.

The project involves the supply of silk spinning equipment with a capacity of about 1,500 tonnes of raw silk per annum, to companies in eight regions in Uzbekistan.

The project will be financed by a credit from Korean Ex-Im Bank of $12.75 million, in addition to funds supplied by Uzbek Ipagi.

According to the source, it is planned to begin the modernization of the silk spinning companies by the end of 2000 and to complete the project in 2001. In addition, the capacity of the silk companies will increase 50% to 2,600 tonnes of raw silk per annum.

The deadline for applications to participate in the tender is September 16. It is expected that the results will be announced by the end of September this year.

Before the break-up of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan was one of the largest producers of silk fabric and raw silk in the Central Asian region.

According to the association, in 1991 the republic produced 2,418 tonnes of raw silk and 79 million linear meters of silk and mixed fabrics; in 1998 556 tonnes of raw silk and 3.68 million linear meters of fabric and in 1999 923 tonnes of silk and 4.5 million meters of fabric. In 2000, companies within the association plan to produce 1,100 tonnes of raw silk and 8.8 million linear meters of fabric.

At the moment the republic has four joint ventures producing raw silk and fabric. The largest in terms of production is the Uzbek-Japanese Silk Road. The share of Marubeni (the Japanese founder) is 51%, with Uzbekshyolk accounting for 49%. The total cost of the project, which is being financed by a credit from the European Bank for reconstruction and Development, amounts to $7 million. The joint venture was launched in 1997 and produced 140 tonnes of silk yarn per annum, all of which is exported. (Russian Interfax news agency, August 22)

he tragedy in the Barents Sea with the Kursk nuclear submarine has deeply hurt everyone in Uzbekistan. Capt-Lt Rashid Ryamisovich Aryanov and warrant officer Sergey Anatolyevich Rychkov, who were on board the submarine, had relatives in Tashkent and Samarkand regions. The tragedy of Aryanov's father, mother and brother and Rychkov's mother and sister has been taken with deep understanding at the Russian embassy in Uzbekistan.

Russian diplomats had collected travel money for them and when they approached the first deputy managing director of Uzbekistan Airways, the national airline, E. M. Polvonov, with a request to sell tickets for the next flight to Moscow, they were not only understood, but helped. Uzbekistan Airways told them that the sailors' relatives would be flown for free and immediately issued five tickets.

The parents and family members of Capt-Lt Rashid Ryamisovich Aryanov and warrant officer Sergey Anatolyevich Rychkov flew to Moscow 21st August and on August 22 a special plane organized by the Russian navy took them to the place of tragedy. (Uzbek "Pravda Vostoka" newspaper, August 22)

t is known that these days our people are well informed about the developments in Saryassiya and Uzun Districts of [southern Uzbekistan] Surkhandarya Region through the press, radio and TV. The other day, at a summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek of the heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan the parties talked about these events and about joint efforts to fight against international terrorism and arms smuggling in general and adopted a statement.

This morning, President Islam Karimov left for Surkhandarya Region in connection with the developments in Saryassiya and Uzun Districts of the Region. (Uzbek radio, August 22)

zbek President Islam Karimov and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov will sign an agreement on delimitation of the Turkmen-Uzbek state border during Karimov's upcoming visit to Ashgabat (Turkmen capital) in September, according to Uzbekistan's ambassador to Turkmenistan, Abdurashid Kadyrov. The Ambassador said that a group of topographers were determining its exact coordinates directly on the border at the moment. Then a draft agreement will be drawn up.

Ambassador Kadyrov also stated that during the visit of an Uzbek government delegation to the Turkmen capital, negotiations were held with the Turkmen counterparts on the issue of settling the debts of Uzbek enterprises which operate using Turkmen water-intake facilities on the Amudarya River.

The issue has been completely settled following meetings with the heads of Turkmenistan's Economics and Finance Ministry and the tax inspectorate, the ambassador said. (August 21)

bout 500 kg of narcotic drugs have been confiscated from two nationals of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan. Their KamAZ truck was stopped at a customs point on the Uzbek-Tajik border, a representative of the Uzbek State Customs Department's press service told Interfax today. The customs officers wondered why the empty truck crossed Uzbekistan for Tajikistan a month ago and was also empty on the way back. They examined the vehicle and found a container in the spare fuel tank. More than 470 kg of narcotic drugs, including about 39 kg of heroin and some 430 kg of opium, were hidden in the container. Experts assess the contraband to be worth more than 4m dollars. Criminal proceedings have been instituted, and an investigation has begun. (Russian news agency Interfax, August 21)

azakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and a special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Ivanov, have signed a statement following a meeting on Central Asian security matters in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on 20th August.

In a report the same day Kazakh Khabar TV said that in this statement, "the presidents expressed their serious concern about the situation in the region".

"International terrorism is encroaching upon the constitutional and democratic foundations of our societies. We confirm our firm determination to give a commensurate response and to put end to bandits' sorties. The terrorists will be crushed in the harshest manner," the television quoted the statement as saying.

"The presidents also called on their peoples to maintain calmness and firmness of spirit", the television said. The report gave no further details of the meeting or the statement, no further processing planned. (Kyrgyz Khabar TV, August 21)

zbek President Islam Karimov told a news conference following the Central Asian security summit in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on 20th August that the aim of the radical, politicized centres of Islam was to turn Central Asia back to the Middle Ages and force their womenfolk to wear the paranja, an all-enveloping garment, as is case in Afghanistan. In excerpts from the news conference carried on Kyrgyz radio later the same day, Karimov said:

"There is a direct link between the events in Afghanistan and security in Central Asia and Central Asian countries and the radical centres. The centres which are politicizing Islam they are pursuing one goal, to stop, to turn back the process which has been chosen by all the people of Central Asia. They want to bring us back to the Middle Ages. To put the paranja on our children, on our beautiful daughters. You see what is happening in Afghanistan. How people are living there."

Karimov went on: "I have grounds for stating that while there is war in Afghanistan, while fratricidal war continues in Afghanistan and while confrontation is continuing in Afghanistan, I think, we cannot ensure security either in Central Asia or in countries which are far from Central Asia." (Kyrgyz Radio, August 21)

one of the regional presidents can guarantee safe life to his citizens as long as there is war in Afghanistan, Uzbek leader Islam Karimov said in Bishkek on Sunday.

"Be the attitude of the international community to the Afghan problem similar to the attitude to the problems of Kosovo or Bosnia, the situation in that country would have been completely different," Karimov said.

Afghanistan has turned into sort of training grounds, the site of training terrorists "who are politicizing Islam," Karimov said. The people, who are trained there, want to revert transformations in the Central Asian republics and "to bring their population back to the Middle Ages, the century of obscurantism," he said.

The terrorists trained in Afghanistan enjoy support of many countries, "among them European," Karimov noted. Such countries "are actively hampering" peace processes in Afghanistan, he said.

However, if the Taleban comes to power throughout Afghanistan, Karimov said he is not sure that peace will be restored. He said in his opinion, the UN and OSCE should be paying much more attention to a settlement in Afghanistan.

Russian presidential envoy Sergey Ivanov said at the briefing that militants in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are acting precisely as they do in Chechnya. On Afghanistan, he said that Russia used to help the lawful government of Afghanistan. Similar assistance was given by Central Asian nations and other countries, such as India. Ivanov said he hopes that many countries of the world will help the lawful Afghan government. (Itar-Tass, August 21)

eaders of ex-Soviet states in central Asia vowed after a meeting in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday to work together to fight an outbreak of cross-border unrest that has killed dozens of troops this month.

Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev played host to the presidents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan -- Islam Karimov, Imomali Rakhmonov and Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Russia sent Sergei Ivanov, head of President Vladimir Putin's advisory Security Council to attend the meeting, which came amid a sudden upsurge in unrest in remote mountainous areas where Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan share borders.

Kyrgyz and Uzbek troops have battled Tajikistan-based Uzbek Islamic rebels this month in the region's fiercest fighting in at least a year. The secularist rulers of the former Soviet states in Central Asia accuse neighbouring Afghanistan's Taleban rulers of exporting revolutionary Islam.

August is traditionally the peak season for fighting in Afghanistan and the ex-Soviet states on its northern frontier as melting snows provide access to remote mountain passes.

Ivanov said Russia and other former Soviet states continue to support Ahmad Shah Masood, the Afghan opposition commander whose forces control a small sliver of the country in the north near its Tajik and Uzbek borders.

Uzbekistan's Karimov called on the international community to isolate the Taleban.

"If (the world community) approached this problem like Kosovo, there would be no more war in Afghanistan," he said.

Western diplomats say poverty in the region and the strong-arm ruling style of some of its leaders have encouraged instability. (Reuters, August 20)

rospects for the development of trade-and-economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea are to be considered at a session of the bilateral committee for economic cooperation and trade, opening here on Monday.

The committee's third session will be devoted, in particular, to the development of the Uzbek automobile industry with South Korea's assistance. A plant, at which automobiles made by the South Korean Daewoo company are assembled, is already in operation in Uzbekistan.

A South Korean businessmen's delegation, led by Chung Yoo-yong, Deputy Minister of Trade, is to hold talks with Uzbek government members. A protocol is to be signed as a result of the South Korean delegation's visit and the trade committee's session.

zbek television is experiencing a rebirth and this is, first of all, in broadcasting television programmes. Considerable changes have taken place recently in renewing programme production technology. Uzbek TV has made an agreement with the Japanese Itochu Corporation on replacing old television transmitters with more up-to-date ones.

Itochu Corporation won the international tender announced last November. According to the bilateral agreement, Uzbekistan will receive five television and five radio transmitters worth 3.5m dollars on a mutually-profitable basis. The first television transmitter has already been procured by the Japanese company to replace its predecessor for Uzbek TV's first channel by Independence Day [1st September].

By 1st November another television transmitting facility will be delivered and installed. The replacement process will be carried out in parallel with the operating transmitters. They will be switched over at night, outside broadcasting time.

Details of this deal were also discussed during Itochu Corporation's chairman, Minora Murofushi's, recent meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent. (Uzbek TV, August 21)

wo members of a gang specializing in robbing car drivers attacked and killed a foreign citizen in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, this summer and stole 12,000 dollars, `Na Postu' newspaper reported on 17th August. It said that two staff members of a foreign company identified as Influence House were attacked in their apartment in Tashkent when one of them was preparing for a trip home.

"These foreigners lived in a private apartment in the Ts-1 area of Mirzo-Ulugbek district of Tashkent. One of them put up resistance and the criminals stabbed and killed him.

"The one who survived said that he had taken 12,000 dollars out of the bank the previous day, as he was going to travel to his home country. Together with his partner, who was his compatriot, they were discussing the details of the trip. Suddenly the door bell rang. He went to open the door and suddenly two people wearing masks burst into the flat and one of them hit him on the head. The intruders seized the money and two mobile telephones," the paper said.

The Tashkent police found that a driver working for the foreigners had abetted the robbers. "It emerged that the armed robbery had been organized and carried out with the help of a certain A.A., who worked as a driver for the foreigners and knew that one of them had received money. The actual perpetrators of the armed robbery were T.Z and his accomplice, 24-year-old H.S, who has previous convictions, " the report said.

The exact date of the incident was not specified, but must have occurred some time after 10th July, the date the gang attacked and robbed a car driver and stole 10,000 Uzbek soms, according to the newspaper.

ccording to the latest, but not yet confirmed, reports, a new Islamic movement called the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan is being set up on the territory of Tajikistan. It is presumed that this is connected with the fact that the members and armed detachments of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan currently staying in Tajikistan are not popular among Tajiks.

However, among them [Tajiks] there are quite a lot of those backing the idea of Islamization of the Fergana Valley. Following the setting up in the Tajik town of Khujand [centre of northern Soghd, former Leninobod, Region] of a joint headquarters to fight terrorism and extremism, the leaders of the Islamic movements of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were forced to unite their uncoordinated forces.

Now there is a danger that three Central Asian Islamic movements - the United Tajik Opposition [UTO], the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan - will coordinate their actions.

There is no precise information yet about the difference between the UTO and the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan. (Kyrgyz news agency Kabar, August 19)

nder a Tajik government resolution from 19th June 2000, procedures are being carried out to hand over the Oltin-Topkan [northern Soghd, former Leninobod, Region] ore enterprise to the Committee for Precious Metals under the Tajik government.

This is the only mine which after the declaration of Tajikistan's independence [in 1991] was being worked by Uzbekistan, despite being situated on our country's territory.

A meeting between the heads of the Committee for Precious Metals, the Regional administration and the enterprise's management was held on 11th August. A new director of the enterprise, L. Rahmatov, was introduced at the meeting. The reconstruction of the roads and the bridge leading to the Oltin-Topkan settlement has begun. The ore enterprise extracts mainly zinc and lead. The talks on its handover to Tajikistan began in 1996. (Tajik news agency Asia-Plus, August 17)

bout 500 kilograms of drugs have been seized in Uzbekistan, head of the State Customs Committee Saidazim Aripov said on Friday [18th August].

Two Kazakhs - Sergey Rudenko and Viktor Puryev -- tried to smuggle into and transit through Uzbekistan 41.72 kg of heroin and 438.84 g of opium, Aripov told ITAR-TASS.

This has been the biggest drug seizure in Uzbekistan so far this year, according to him. The drugs were hidden in a petrol can inside a Kamaz lorry. (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, August 18)

working government group led by Deputy Prime Minister Qozidavlat Qoimdodov has visited [eastern] Mountainous Badakhshon Autonomous Region, an Asia-Plus news agency correspondent reported.

Qozidavlat Qoimdodov told a meeting with local officials, representatives of the power-wielding structures, activists from Khorugh [the Region's centre] and Shughnon and Roshtqala districts that the main task of the group, which had arrived on the president's instruction, was to study the social and political situation in the Region. The country's power-wielding structures with people's help should take measures to prevent and fight against infiltration of Islamic extremists and international terrorists.

Qozidavlat Qoimdodov said that according to some reports, there were some Tajiks among the militants along with Uzbeks and other mercenaries. "Our aim and task is to explain to the residents of border areas and all people in Tajikistan how dangerous this trend is for our country, which went through the ordeal of a civil war, and for the whole of the Central Asian region," the deputy prime minister said. (Tajik news agency Asia-Plus, August 23)