Chekists will control the Interior Ministry of Uzbekistan

Ferghana.Ru (translation from Kommersant.ru) December 27 Rumors of resignation of Zakirzhon Almatov, the interior minister who crushed the Andizhan riots this May, were confirmed last week. Retiring because of his state of health, Almatov was decorated with the order "For Outstanding Service" by President Islam Karimov. Anvar Salikhbayev, former deputy chief of the National Security Service, became the new interior minister. One of the most powerful security structure in Uzbekistan, the Interior Ministry is now controlled by the National Security Service. Karimov has always been an adept in using the discord between the Interior Ministry and National Security Service, but this imbalance will clearly undermine stability of his positions. Almatov was the talk of all media outlets, last week. News agencies reported his resignation on several occasions and followed these reports with denouncements with references to the presidential administration. The Interior Ministry finally announced Almatov's resignation at the meeting of the Board on Friday. The ex-minister was decorated for "defense of the Motherland, contribution to the cause of peace and stability in society, faithfulness, courage, and years of service." Almatov spent several last months abroad, treated for cancer in Hanover, Germany. In November, the European Union imposed sanctions on Uzbekistan and published the list of twelve top officials of the Uzbek state blamed for brutal suppression of the May riots in Andizhan. Almatov's name topped the list. The German authorities refused to extradite the Uzbek official, however, claiming that he had come to this country before introduction of the sanctions. The minister was forced to leave for Uzbekistan in the middle of the last week when the UN accused him of crimes against humanity and demanded that the German authorities pressed criminal charges against him (see Kommersant, December 20). Almatov, 56, returned to Tashkent and handed in his resignation to the president. Salikhbayev of the National Security Service was promoted to minister. Uzbek media outlets maintain that Salikhbayev was essentially running the Interior Ministry even before Almatov's formal resignation. Karimov had ordered his return from Pakistan (Salikhbayev was the ambassador there) on December 3. In other words, staff shuffles in the upper echelons of the largest, most powerful, and most feared security structure in Uzbekistan were planned in advance. Uzbek observers evaluate Salikhbayev's promotion as secret services' triumph over the Interior Ministry in the traditional confrontation between them. These structures has always vied for clout, their leaders belonging to different clans (Rustam Inoyatov of the National Security Service is from the Tashkent clan, Almatov from the Samarkand one). That is why Inoyatov was seen as Almatov's foremost rival in the power struggle. Independent analysts agree that the decisive battle over Karimov's "legacy" began in early 2005. According to one of the hypotheses, the tragedy in Andizhan this May became possible because secret services had studiously looked the other way permitting events to run their own course. Witnesses and participants of the events in Andizhan say that the weapons the Akromians seized were loaded with blanks. The rebels who escaped to Kyrgyzstan via Qorasuv claim that the prison in Andizhan was not overrun, that wardens themselves unlocked all doors. This assumption is confirmed by the ongoing trials in Uzbekistan - the policemen and servicemen who failed to prevent mass disturbances in Andizhan are tried and convicted. According to the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, five policemen convicted for inaction in the course of the May riots were sentenced to three years imprisonment, last week. In other words, the Interior Ministry was thoroughly discredited in the eyes of the national leaders and the blame for the merciless suppression of the disturbances was pinned on it. In the meantime, staff shuffles in the upper echelons of the Interior Ministry ruin the parity in the Uzbek leadership. Karimov has always used the rivalry and confrontation between security structures to promote his own purposes and interests. Now that the Interior Ministry is in the hands of a former chekist, the influence of the National Security Service will noticeably grow and jeopardize stability of Karimov's own positions.