Several thousand protest new trade restrictions in Uzbekistan, burn police cars

AP November 1 Thousands of people in eastern Uzbekistan protested new trade restrictions on Monday in a rare expression of public discontent in the tightly controlled Central Asian country, a rights activist said. Up to 8,000 people marched from the central bazaar in the town of Kokand to the mayor's office, burning at least two police cars, according to Ismoil Dadajonov, a rights activist who witnessed the protest. The demonstrators in this town 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of the capital Tashkent were protesting new trade rules that ban the sale of imported goods through intermediaries and require all vendors to get a special license to bring goods from abroad. The new rules - the latest in a series of restrictions that have stifled private business in the country _ were announced in August and came into force on Monday. Most consumer goods are imported, and many Uzbeks shop for clothes and household goods at bazaars, where prices are lower than in stores. Monday's protest was sparked by the confiscation by police of goods belonging to two traders, who did not have licenses required by the new rules. Local police confirmed that a protest took place Monday morning but declined to give details. No arrests have been reported. Trade restrictions imposed by the government in 2003 triggered protests across the country and forced authorities to temporarily close down all bazaars. Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan since before the 1991 Soviet collapse, tolerates no dissent.