Uzbek leader's state visit to Russia raises worries

The New York Times June 30 Asserting itself anew in the affairs of a nation formerly under Moscow's control, Russia increased its support on Wednesday for the embattled regime in Uzbekistan, announcing that Russian forces would conduct joint military exercises with the Uzbeks this summer. The announcement, made by the Russian defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, was broadcast on national television here after Ivanov met with Islam Karimov, the Uzbek president. The televised remarks were one highlight of a state visit to Moscow by Karimov that underscored the diplomatic difficulties Western governments face as they seek leverage against Uzbekistan after the lethal crackdown in Andijon last month. NATO, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and several American officials have called for a credible investigation into the crackdown, which survivors say killed hundreds of people. Karimov has resisted. And as he has withstood the Western pressure, he has been wooed first by China and now by Russia, both of which have deep interests in Central Asia. The events in Andijon on May 13 - which began as a series of armed raids and a prison break, sparked a mass anti-government demonstration, and ended in a bloody crackdown - have led to a period of reassessment between Uzbekistan and the world's principal powers. Survivors of the crackdown say hundreds of people were killed when Uzbek forces fired indiscriminately into dense crowds. Karimov's government claims that 176 people died, and that roughly one-fifth of the victims were government troops. Karimov has complicated his relations with the West by withdrawing from contact; diplomats say he has shunned Western officials since the bloodshed. But he showed a restored comfort level with Moscow. As Western organizations press for an investigation, Karimov on Tuesday was received by President Vladimir Putin and treated as an honored guest. The limited public glimpse of him at Putin's residence suggested how far he has drifted from his former efforts to have relations with the West. The televised portion of the meeting showed him hinting to Putin that the United States was behind the uprising. Sitting beside Putin, Karimov said the uprising must be considered in context of recent anti-government protests in other former Soviet nations - an apparent reference to demonstrations in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. He described these events, according to a transcript prepared by the BBC, as "painstakingly, cleverly and seriously prepared" with "so-called populist pro-democracy street crowds, fed and prepared beforehand." The time Karimov said, in Uzbekistan, "the stage managers of all of this relied on, or, to use a more precise Russian word, made use of, religious, extremist, radical forces which the selfsame script writers and stage managers used to call terrorists and extremists at one time, with whom they so successfully fought in Afghanistan and are now fighting in Iraq."