Uzbekistan opposes international investigation of violence

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday he opposed an international investigation into the worst violence since the country's independence in 1991, a senior U.N. official said.

Government troops opened fire after protesters stormed a prison in the eastern city of Andijan on Friday, freed inmates and then seized local government offices. Many of the demonstrators were citizens complaining about poverty and unemployment.

Karimov's government has denied that troops fired at civilians, and Karimov blamed Islamic militants for the unrest. The government says 169 people died in Andijan, but opposition activists say more than 700 were killed — over 500 in Andijan and about 200 in nearby Pakhtabad — most of them civilians.

Annan called Karimov on Thursday morning to discuss the situation in Andijan, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

"The secretary-general had a long and constructive conversation with president Karimov on the situation in Andijan," Eckhard said, refusing to disclose details of the conversation.

But a senior U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Karimov told Annan that he did not favor an international inquiry at this time.

U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour told the BBC that the Uzbek president told the U.N. chief that allowing diplomats and journalists to visit Andijan this week was sufficient. But Arbour said the brief and tightly controlled visits were not enough to establish the facts.

The senior U.N. official confirmed Arbour's remarks.

Eckhard said Annan also discussed the Andijan situation with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday. The senior U.N. official said the secretary-general met Thursday afternoon with acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson.

The U.S. State Department has said it was "deeply disturbed" by reports that Uzbek authorities fired at demonstrators, and called for political reform in Uzbekistan.

Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that since the violence, the U.S. military has scaled back its operations at an airbase in Uzbekistan, which supports operations in Afghanistan.

usatoday.com

AP
20 May 2005