| January 16-January 23, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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President appoints new chief border-guard
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On January 22 President Islam Karimov appointed Gafurjon Tishaev a chairman to the newly
formed Committee for the Security of State Border. Mr. Tishaev's previous position was deputy
chairman of the National Security Services (aka KGB) and head of the Chief Staff of the Border
Troops of Uzbekistan.
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Feature Islam åakes root in Uzbekistan | (Reuters) |
Thousands of Moslems
streamed into the ancient city of Samarkand this week to celebrate Eid al-Fitr
and take part in a religious revival at once embraced and feared by Uzbekistan's
ex-Communist leaders.
In scenes unthinkable during Soviet times, the mediaeval Registan Square was
crammed with worshippers, bowing and praying in unison as the town's chief
mufti, Mustafakul Melikzoda, brought the Ramadan month of fasting to a solemn
close.
The impressive display below brilliant, blue-tiled facades was repeated in
mosques across the poverty-stricken, arid Central Asian state, where just seven
years of independence have seen Islam, once trampled by Kremlin officials, take
root once more.
"Day by day the number of people interested in Islam is growing, thanks to the
fact that we are now allowed to worship freely," said Sulaiman Makhmudov,
assistant to the imam at the Al-Bukhari mosque around 20 km (12 miles) from
the city centre.
"This year 10,000 people were here, filling the courtyard and spilling out on to
the street, twice as many as last year."
And while 70 years of brutal religious repression could not snuff out the faith,
Russia has left its own indelible mark on Uzbek culture, creating a bizarre mix of
sacred and profane on this holiest of weeks.
Two men in traditional dress of ankle-length velvet cloaks and "tyubeteika" skull
caps lost little time in making up for four weeks of restraint, knocking back
locally-brewed Zarafshan vodka and stumbling through the Samarkand crowd
arm in arm.
But they were the exception rather than the rule.
More typical was 35-year-old Akhmed, who brought his young son Farid to
take part in the climax of the Moslem calendar.
"We won't be drinking vodka today-- that would be considered a sin. When the
Russian public holidays come, then we'll indulge in a shot or two," he smiled.
CITY OF LEGENDS AND CENTRAL ASIA'S HOLIEST SITE
Samarkand is a city of legends whose name still conjures up the days of the last
great Mongol khan Timur, the ruthless 14th century conqueror known as
Tamerlane in the West.
Registan Square, flanked on three sides by huge ancient medressas, religious
schools whose walls are a sea of azure majolica and mosaics, is one of the most
impressive sights in Central Asia.
Where Timur once carried out bloody executions, tourists from around the
world now flock to see the magnificent remnants of the great dynasty, which
went into terminal decline with Timur's grandson, the renowned Moslem
astronomer Ulug Bek.
More important for the pilgrims is a smaller site 10 minutes' walk away, where
Qusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, is said to be buried.
He was murdered in the seventh century, slain by zealous non-believers while
praying.
The narrow, dusty walkway weaves through an avenue of vaults covered in
painted tile-work and built as tombs for Timur's leading generals and relations,
including one of his wives.
One entrance leads to an underground chamber near the place where the
remains of Qusam-ibn-Abbas are said to have been thrown down a well.
When his followers came to search for them, they found nothing and the tomb
was given the name Shahi Zinda, which means "Tomb of the Living King."
A handful of Uzbek pilgrims prayed at the royal necropolis.
"Pilgrims do not need to go all the way to Mecca," said Sattur Abdurasulov,
curator at Shahi Zinda. "This is one of the world's holiest places. In Soviet times
of course it was different. I was afraid to be seen in this place then."
RELIGIOUS REVIVAL HAS PRESIDENT'S BLESSING
The religious revival in Uzbekistan, the most populous of the five Central Asian
former Soviet republics with 23 million people, has the official blessing of
President Islam Karimov, who has run the country with a firm grip since
Communist times.
He is keen to promote Islam as a cultural focus for the young nation, an
alternative to years as a Russian satellite.
Many worshippers in Samarkand said they had Karimov to thank for their
new-found religious identity.
Al-Bukhari's Makhmudov said that state and religion must find some kind of
compromise to coexist.
"You need some kind of government control and that is why we have a system
for directing the course of religion here. I do not see this as government
interference but it is right that the state should look on from afar."
LEADERSHIP NERVOUS OF EXTREMIST THREAT
And the authorities do look on.
While officially approving the rebirth of Islam, Karimov is extremely wary of
extremist activity within Uzbekistan and imported from neighbours like
Afghanistan and Pakistan beyond.
He sweepingly refers to all extremists as "Wahhabis," referring to the
conservative brand of Sunni Islam to which the Saudi royal family belongs.
His fears have struck a chord with fellow Central Asian states and Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have discussed with him the security threat posed by
conservative Islam.
Russia, worried that the soft underbelly of the former Soviet empire will fail to
prevent fundamentalism spreading north, is also sympathetic.
Uzbekistan feels particularly vulnerable, as it borders Afghanistan's north, where
the hardline Islamic Taleban movement has crushed opposition forces.
And relations with Tajikistan, where the Islamic opposition and
Moscow-backed secular government share an uneasy peace after a five-year
civil war, have worsened since Tajikistan accused Uzbekistan of helping to plot
an armed uprising in November.
At home, the allegedly religiously motivated murders of 12 policemen and local
officials in the densely-populated and impoverished Fergana Valley triggered a
strong response.
A series of show trials in the capital Tashkent in recent months have seen young
men receive prison terms of up to 16 years, and in one case the death sentence,
over the case.
Human rights activists say Karimov is making a scapegoat of the accused and is
too eager to portray threats of social unrest as coming from religious fanaticism
rather than frustration at poverty and a lack of economic reforms.
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Berezovsky, Uzbek leaders to discuss CIS structure reform
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reform of the structure of the bodies
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and refinement of CIS
activities will be the main subjects of discussion at the forthcoming talks due to
be held here on Monday between CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovsky
and the leaders of Uzbekistan.
During the one-day working visit to the Uzbek capital, Berezovsky is expected
to be received by President Islam Karimov and meet with Vice
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Taleban hope to restore electricity from Uzbekistan
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Afghanistan's Taleban government
will soon talk to neighbouring Uzbekistan about restoring electric power supplies
to northern Afghanistan, a Taleban minister said on Saturday.
Information and Culture Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi said Uzbekistan, accused
by the Taleban of helping Afghan opposition forces, itself suffered from reduced
power supplies because of a long drought.
"This is not a political matter. Uzbekistan has also suffered because of an
unusually long dry spell," Mutaqi said by telephone from Kabul. "Besides,
Uzbekistan has to meet its own growing electricity demand."
He said Uzbekistan had cut down rather than cut off power to the northern
Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which the Taleban captured from opposition
forces last August.
"We hope to be able to solve the problem at the earliest possible," Mutaqi said.
He accused the previous government of having left payments for Uzbek power
supplies in a mess.
"There are absolutely no accounts of how much do we owe to Uzbekistan. We
are in the process of settling our accounts."
Afghanistan has six hydro-electric dams of its own, enough to supply only a few
major towns with low voltage, irregular power. Mazar-i-Sharif and some other
northern border towns depend on electricity from Uzbekistan.
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Turkmen-Uzbek economic cooperation accord signed
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Excerpts from report by Turkmen TV on 21st January | The signing of a Turkmen-Uzbek intergovernmental trade and economic cooperation agreement for 1999 ended the talks held at the international business centre in the Turkmen capital [Ashkhabad]. The Uzbek delegation at the talks was headed by Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan [Lerik] Ahmetov. [Passage omitted: bilateral economic relations to be based on international norms favourable for all] According to the agreement signed at the end of today's [21st January] talks, beginning from 1st January 1999 the two neighbouring states will make their mutual payments in hard currency for railway transport services, transmission of TV programmes and use of land [for irrigation facilities]. The current year's settlements include the supply of 9m dollars' worth of mineral fertilizers by the Uzbek side as well as [electricity] exports through Uzbekistan by the Ministry of Power Engineering and Industry of Turkmenistan, which plans to use Uzbekistan as a transit route for export of Turkmen power to Central Asian states. Additional contracts and mutual sttlements are to be made soon in line with the agreement signed today. [Passage omitted to end: Uzbek delegation praising Turkmen hospitality ]
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Uzbek Ambassador presents credentials to EC President
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Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Belgium Shavkat Hamraqulov
presented his credentials to Jacques Santer, president of the EC Commission. Now Hamraqulov
will also head the Uzbek mission in the European Union.
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