| February 20-February 27, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Uzbeks offer $250,000 in hunt for bomb suspects
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Uzbekistan offered a $250,000 reward Wednesday
for information leading to the capture of five young men it suspects of
involvement in last week's deadly bombings in the capital Tashkent.
An Interior Ministry statement described the men as Uzbek citizens from
Tashkent, and Fergana and Namangan in the east of the mostly desert Central
Asian state.
The series of bombs killed 16 people and wounded over 130 in what President
Islam Karimov said was an attempt to assassinate him.
Karimov, who has blamed the attacks on "religious fanatics," said Tuesday that
30 people, mostly radical Islamists, had been detained on charges of organizing
them.
Uzbekistan is witnessing an Islamic revival among its 23 million people. Karimov
has accused other countries, including neighboring Tajikistan and Afghanistan, of
harboring and training young Islamic militants.
Human rights groups say Karimov is using religion as a scapegoat for problems
caused by poverty and backward economic policies in cotton-producing
Uzbekistan, where the average monthly wage is about $50.
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30 suspects detained on charges of terrorism in Uzbekistan
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"Around 30 suspects have been
detained on charges of involvement in terrorist acts staged in Tashkent on
February 16," Uzbek President Islam Karimov said at a meeting with
ambassadors from over 50 countries and representatives of the mass media on
Tuesday.
"Regrettably, chief executors of the terrorist acts are still at large, " Karimov
said. He pointed out that the majority of those detained had been trained to
carry out subversive acts in Chechnya and Afghanistan and some of them had
already "distinguished" themselves in armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Chechnya
and neighboring Tajikistan. All of them belong to the "Hezbollah" movement and
Wahhabite formations, " Karimov said.
"We have turned out to be unprepared for such terrorist acts, I have no doubt
that they (the terrorists) had been acting not without help from the outside,"
Karimov said.
He described the activities of the Uzbek Interior Ministry and the Uzbek
Security Service in the days of unrest in Uzbekistan as "unsatisfactory."
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Brother of Uzbek opposition party leader arrested
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Muhammed
Begjon, whose brother, Muhammad Solih, is the leader of the
Uzbek opposition party Erk, was arrested in Khwarezm on 18
February, RFE/RL correspondents reported. Police came to
Begjon's home and requested he drive his car to the police
station. Once there, police searched Begjon's vehicle and
reportedly discovered gun cartridges. Begjon remains in
detention.
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Karimov says 30 bomb suspects detained
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Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov said on
Tuesday that 30 people, mostly radical Islamists who underwent training abroad,
have been detained on charges of organising deadly bombings in the capital
Tashkent last week.
"I can tell you that practically all of the detained persons went through training in
Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan," Karimov told a news conference. Most
were Uzbek nationals, he added.
Karimov has blamed "religious fanatics" for a series of blasts a week ago which
killed 16 and injured over 130 people. He has described the attacks as an
attempt to assassinate him.
He told journalists the suspects were linked to Islamic groups such as Hizbollah,
which has waged a violent struggle against Israel, and so-called "Wahabbis,"
promoters of a purist brand of Islam practiced by the ruling family in Saudi
Arabia.
Karimov approves of a rebirth of Islam in the former Soviet republic after years
of official atheism but vows to keep the country of 23 million strictly secular.
He said ethnic Tajik citizens of Uzbekistan were currently undergoing similar
training in neighboring Tajikistan. He declined to name specific groups or
individuals who may have ordered the attacks, however.
"Who stands behind these groups, who ordered the murder of the president? I
can't say anything, and must repeat again that this is too serious a question which
demands well-founded proof and a complete investigation," said Karimov, who
also ran the cotton-producing land in Soviet times.
He said that whoever carried out the bombings did so "not without help from
(abroad)."
Karimov repeated an official call for help in apprehending one of the key
suspects, identified as Ulugbek Bobodzhanov.
He said Bobodzhanov visited the Cabinet of Ministers building on the eve of the
attack in an effort to map it out. The building suffered heavy damage in the
bombings.
Karimov said Bobodzhanov received a pass to enter the building from the office
of one of the country's vice-premiers, a fact he called "disorderliness, bungling
and a lack of viligance which took us by surprise."
Bobodzhanov's current whereabouts are unknown.
He also criticised the country's security organs for not detecting the attacks,
which rocked the city centre.
Karimov appealed to foreign investors and international organisations for
understanding, saying the bombings did not mean the country was unstable or
unsafe for business.
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Shevardnadze to make stopover in Uzbekistan
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Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze
said on Monday that he might make a stopover in Tashkent on his way back
from Japan to meet the Uzbek president over recent terrorist acts in capital
Tashkent.
"I do not rule out that after my official visit to Japan I will make a stopover for
several hours in Tashkent on my way back to Tbilisi to meet Uzbek President
Islam Karimov," Shevardnadze said in an interview to the national radio.
He said "there is a necessity that two presidents discuss the situation following
cruel and cynical blasts in Tashkent." The Georgian leader also expressed hope
that "the disgusting provocation on February 16 in Tashkent will not be able to
prevent a stable and independent development of Uzbekistan."
Following the terrorist acts in Tashkent, Shevardnadze telephoned Karimov to
express his deep condolences to the people and the leadership of the country.
Shevardnadze's visit to Japan is expected to take place from March 4 to 8. That
will be his first official visit to Japan as Georgia's president.
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Passport control tightened in Uzbekistan
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The passport control has been
tightened in Uzbekistan after the explosions that shook Tashkent on February
16. As a result of terrorist actions, 15 people were killed and more than 150
wounded. The authorities decided to establish calm and order in the republic.
This is the task not only of policemen but also of representatives of residential
committees, representatives of the public, people of various nationalities
inhabitting the area.
A high official of the republic's passport agency told Tass this action can be
compared to a census taking. It will be possible to establish the total number of
the republic's population and also to spot persons who cause suspicion.
The look of Tashkent changes sharply as dusk sets in. Although the curfew has
not been clamped down on the Uzbek capital, the streets and squares on the city
are deserted after nine p.m.. People prefer to stay at home. Police armed with
submachine guns stop rare passers-by to check their documents and search
them if needed.
A well-informed source in the Uzbekistan Interior Ministry told Tass that the
crime rate decreased in Uzbekistan after February 16. This is seen most
strikingly in Tashkent. The number of crimes, particularly of grave crimes,
sharply dwindled. Automobiles with foreign markings are hardly seen in the
streets.
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3 Central Asian nations to fight financial crisis
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Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan
Friday pledged to take coordinated action to alleviate the impact of the world
financial crisis on their economies.
The presidents of the three countries, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Islam Karimov and
Askar Akayev signed a memorandum on the coordinated action during their
meeting in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, reported Interfax's branch in Alma
Ata.
The three Central Asian countries decided to set up a joint working group to
implement the measures.
They also signed a protocol on the implementation of a permanent friendship
treaty signed in Bishkek of Kyrgyzstan in January 1997.
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Uzbek president on real economic independence
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Interviewed at Tashkent airport before his departure for a
summit with the Kazakh and Kyrgyz presidents in the Kazakh
capital, Astana, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said that
Uzbekistan's neighbours were milking Uzbek supplies of food and
goods. He said that 5,000 people travelled every day from the
southern Kyrgyz town of Osh into eastern Uzbekistan, buying up
goods and taking them back to Kyrgyzstan. "If you want to build
a democratic island, first feed your own people and then start
boasting!" Karimov said. The following are excerpts from report
by Uzbek radio on 19th February
Today [19th February] the president of our republic, Islam
Karimov, left for the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. Our
correspondent Ghofir Jamolov reports.
[Jamolov] The aim of Uzbek President Islam Karimov's visit
to Astana is to exchange opinions on the implementation of the
eternal friendship treaty which was previously signed between
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. [passage omitted:
background information on the history of the treaty]
Our president said that currently Uzbekistan was in favour
of developing close economic, political, social and cultural
relations with its neighbours. He said that such relations
would further grow.
But there is a saying that friendship cannot stand always
on one side. That means that mutual settlement of accounts will
greatly contribute towards developing cooperation and making it
promising. Our head of state, speaking about this at Tashkent
airport, in particular said:
[Karimov's voice] We became an independent state, all of
us, in 1991 [Karimov chuckles]. Along with us our neighbours
are also independent. They are very good at boasting about this
when it is in their favour. They would say: We are independent!
We are sovereign! We are this and we are that. All right, you
are an independent state. We are also an independent state. The
links between independent states should abide by quite
different rules. That means the borders should be clear, there
should be no unnecessary trips back-and-forth, unnecessary bus
trips taking our Uzbek goods out. For example, every day 5,000
people travel from [the Kyrgyz southern town of] Osh to
Andizhan [eastern Uzbekistan] by bus. Now calculate yourself,
5,000 people travel by bus every day from Osh to Andizhan.
Apart from this there also fixed-route taxis. Currently Kyrgyz
leaders are asking us why we have cancelled certain buses. So
let us calculate, if 5,000 people each take two loaves of bread
[out of Uzbekistan] then how much that will be? And that is
only the bread, I am not talking about the rest!
Why are you bothering us so much? You have your own
president! You have your own leader! You are building a
democratic island, aren't you?! If you want to build a
democratic island, first feed your own people and then start
boasting! Am I right?
We are trying to feed ourselves using our own potential,
our own resources and above using our people's hard work. But
just look around us, all of them bother us. From all four sides
. Very well, I will not identify them.
[Correspondent [Passage omitted: correspondent's
conclusions that each country should provide its country with
enough food] The agenda for the meeting includes the president
of our country Islam Karimov holding one-to-one talks with
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana today. The
three presidents are also expected to hold a tripartite
meeting, after which there will be a meeting with all the
members of the delegations. After the talks the sides are
expected to sign a protocol on the implementation of the
eternal friendship treaty. (UzTV 1) |
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Foreign investors will not leave Uzbekistan
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Foreign investors working in
Uzbekistan will not leave the republic in the wake of recent terrorist
acts in the capital Tashkent.
The press service of the Uzbek Foreign Economic Ties Ministry told
Interfax on Monday that representatives of such big investment companies
as Newmont Mining Corporation, Daewoo, Uzbek-British-American Tobacco,
Siemens, Daimler-Chrysler, Thomson and Danavant expressed confidence in
Uzbekistan's stability and would like to invest more in the country's
economy.
The press service said that the ministry has been contacted by
representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and of the Japanese
Mitsui company who, on behalf of American and Japanese businessmen,
denounced the terrorist acts in Tashkent on February 16.
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