В качестве почетных гостей на соревнованиях в Ташкенте присутствуют Михай Бира из Международной федерации любительской борьбы /ФИЛА/ и президент Азиатского комитета любительской борьбы Ким Чанг Кью.

Предоставление Узбекистану права проведения мирового первенства в республиканской Ассоциации спортивной борьбы расценивают как свидетельство растущего авторитета национальной борцовской школы. Команды Узбекистана по вольной и греко-римской борьбе с 1993 года участвуют в чемпионатах Азии, мира и Олимпийских играх.

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The public prosecutor claims Shukhrat Babadjanov forged a letter by the famous Uzbek painter, Ruzi Chariev, recommending the journalist for membership of the prestigious Union of Artists of Uzbekistan in 1991. The criminal investigation into the affair, which began at the end of July, has been condemned by the non-government press and human rights activists, who say it represents an attempt by the authorities to silence the independent media.

Babadjanov, head of a local television station and a respected painter, admits that he wrote the application to the artists' union, but claims Chariev signed it. "Ruzi Chariev couldn't write properly in Uzbek. That's why he told me - 'write it yourself and I will sign it,'" said Babadjanov.

"I have ample proof that I did not falsify Chariev's signature - the accusations are groundless. It looks like investigators forced him to say that his signature was forged. They tried to do the same thing to another person who endorsed my recommendation, but he refused."

Babadjanov was expelled from the artists' union at the end of May, for alleged non-payment of membership fees, failure to turn up for exhibitions and indecent behaviour.

The journalist suspects he will be arrested following his interrogation by the state prosecutor next Monday, August 6. He fears he may face the same fate as the Uigur writer Emil Usman who died in questionable circumstances shortly after being detained earlier this year. He had been expelled from the artists' union a month before his detention.

Analysts believe Babadjanov is being punished for his journalistic work. He is the director of the private Urgench-based private television company ALC TV, which was closed down two years ago and has been pressuring the government to be allowed back on air ever since. It's thought the government shut down the station in autumn 1999 - shortly before the start of parliamentary and presidential elections - because of its fiercely independent editorial policy. The station collaborated with international media, such as Internews, rebroadcasting programmes which aired issues the authorities felt uneasy about.

Babadjanov repeatedly took legal action to reopen ALC, without success. At the end of June, the authorities finally refused to renew the station's licence. Throughout his single-handed campaign to get the station back on air, Babadjanov highlighted the plight of ALC to draw public attention to the government's bid to pressure the independent media.

His actions provoked criticism from the authorities and pro-regime journalists, who felt he was undermining the country's reputation abroad. Among independent-minded people, he became the symbol of the struggle for freedom of speech in Uzbekistan.

Independent journalists have been shocked by the authorities' decision to bring criminal charges against someone as well known as Babadjanov.

The chairman of the Independent Organisation for Human Rights in Uzbekistan, Mikhail Ardzinov, believes Babadjanov is now being persecuted for battling to save his station and attempting to draw the international community's attention to Tashkent's repression of the independent media.

"Over the years the authorities here have managed to paralyse their political opponents," he said. "Opposition parties, like Erk and Birlik, and religious organisations are strictly controlled and repressed. Now it seems the government is taking on journalists who are not afraid to speak their minds."

The first secretary of Erk, Atanazar Arifov, agreed with the Ardzinov. "The authorities clipped our wings a long time ago, now they feel it's time for the journalists."

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"The audience did not like the show, to be more precise, there was a kind of a demonstration of protest at the end of the beauty contest. You will ask: what kind of protest? Very simple: the audience simply stood up and left the hall," it said.

It asked: "What was the purpose of organizing the show?" According to some girls who took part in the show and others, the purpose was to show to the world how beautiful and attractive Uzbek girls were. "However, it was a pity that there were only four [ethnic] Uzbek girls", involved in the contest, out of the 15 participants, it said. It added that the republican public Centre for Spirituality and Enlightenment should be involved in holding such shows.

"Why should we follow Europe or the West in everything? Are we so much behind the times?" - the report said in conclusion.

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Over the past week, some Russian and Kazakh media disseminated a report to the effect that a number of militants had attempted to make an incursion into Kyrgyzstan's Batken District through Tajik territory. According to Russian news agencies, the militants supposedly planned to attack Uzbekistan through Batken as in 1999. It is quite hard to ascertain to what extent this information is true, but a number of statements were made following that report. In particular, the Tajik Security Council secretary, Gen Amirqul Azimov, said that there were absolutely no militants in Tajikistan who could threaten Uzbekistan.

Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Bolat Dzhanuzakov also made a statement. According to him, militants who attempted to attack Kyrgyz Districts might be either ordinary criminal drug smugglers or members of the gang that calls itself the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. In general, Bolat Dzhanuzakov's assumption suggests that there are militants in Tajikistan, and this contradicts the statement made by the Tajik Security Council secretary, Gen Amirqul Azimov. However, another statement was made very soon afterwards. The head of the press service for the Russian border group in Tajikistan, Col Aleksandr Kondratyev, made a statement: We do not have any information suggesting that any militant has crossed the Tajik-Afghan border or is preparing to cross the border.

Col Aleksandr Kondratyev's comments contradict the Kyrgyz Security Council secretary's statement. So there are many opinions contradicting each other. In any case, according to the Russian media, since the ultimate goal of the militants who attempted to penetrate Kyrgyzstan via Tajikistan is to attack Uzbekistan, then Uzbekistan is the country that will clear up all the contradictory opinions and the situation. We, therefore, contacted the Uzbek Defence Ministry.

Komil Jabborov, head of the Uzbek Defence Ministry's press centre: "Last year's events in the southern Surkhandarya and eastern Tashkent Regions proved that there are forces attempting to undermine peace in our country. They want to disturb the peaceful life of our people. I am very often asked the question that you posed. For instance, foreign media correspondents often phone me and ask me whether there are any threats of militants attacking Uzbekistan again this year. Well, we are currently holding training exercises in Surkhandarya Region. They ask why these exercises are being held in Surkhandarya Region, or whether there is more danger in Surkhandarya Region. How can we answer these questions? Our armed forces should be combat-ready in any situation. Regardless of threats by militants, we must always be ready to counter any aggression appropriately."

It was mainly Russian, Kazakh and Kyrgyz media that disseminated reports about armed militants attacking Kyrgyzstan via Tajikistan, but that their real aim was to attack Uzbekistan. Perhaps these media are independent of the state, or perhaps they reflect their states' opinion. In any case, one point arises: it is a fact that there are many reports about militants who are planning to attack Uzbekistan. That is to say, the Central Asian states, our neighbours, are depicting the militant threat in their media. Representatives of these countries' security departments are making statements in the media. How can one comment on this?

The reason for the escalation of such activity might be that all the Central Asian countries have realized that it is necessary to combat international terrorism jointly. That is to say, condoning the threat of international terrorism, ignoring the issue, thinking that it is only Uzbekistan's problem and staying on the sidelines, and ideas of that sort have disappeared.

All countries in Central Asia, and even other countries, such as Uzbekistan's northern neighbours, have understood one thing: that it is wrong to think that, say, an international terrorist, a criminal trying to find drug routes or armed militants, are threatening only Uzbekistan. What made them realize this? I think that historical truth opened their eyes.

During the Surkhandarya events last year and during the Batken events before that, the bandits who threatened peace in Central Asia allegedly claimed to be re-establishing the Khanate of Kokand in the Fergana Valley. According to media reports from some neighbouring countries, these fighters have allegedly begun to move again. In reality, the fighters' old aim of re-establishing the Khanate of Kokand is the main reason for some countries' concern. All Central Asian countries are concerned about phrases like the reestablishment of the Khanate of Kokand in the Fergana Valley. One should look to history for the reason.

As is known, the Khanate of Kokand was established in 1702-1711. At that time, the Bukharan Ubaydullo Khan's influence on Fergana had become weak, and Shohrukhbiy Ibn Ashur Muhammad had appeared on the historical scene. Shohrukhbiy destroyed the reign of Chodak Khoja in Kokand in 1710 and established the Khanate of Kokand. All the khans who ruled Kokand had pursued a policy of expanding the territory under their control, and the Khanate of Kokand had gained a vast area by the time of Olimkhon Ibn Norbutabiy, who was then the khan of Kokand, in the second half of the 19th century. At that time, the Khanate of Kokand comprised Uzbekistan's Andizhan, Fergana, Namangan and Tashkent regions, Tajikistan's Khujand Region, all the southern lands of Kazakhstan and the whole of today's Kyrgyz territory. If we proceed from this historical truth, then according to the aim of the bandits, who in reality want to traffic drugs and destabilize the situation in the region, in order to re-establish the Khanate of Kokand, they will attack Uzbekistan and the territories of all the other countries in Central Asia too. Who likes this?

So there is good reason for the Uzbek president's statement that the threat of international terrorism will have an adverse effect not only on Uzbekistan, but on all other countries in the region too. History confirms that this is true, and the Central Asian countries and other nearby countries have realized that the statement should be believed, supported and taken into account when taking decisions. So the media statements from some countries are natural. One can understand why some countries are concerned.

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"Библиотеки пополнились новой литературой, газетами и журналами. Учитывая интерес молодежи к футболу, в Ташкентском городском оздоровительном лагере "Алгоритм" организованы межлагерные состязания по мини-футболу," - отметила она. В соответствии с постановлением Кабинета Министров, 15 тысяч детей из Каракалпакстана и 5 тысяч из Хорезмcкой области размещены в оздоровительных лагерях Ташкентской и Самаркандской областей, а также Ферганской долины. Дети, прибывшие из Приаралья, взяты Федерацией профсоюзов Узбекистана под постоянный контроль.

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