Uzbek President Flies to Site of Uprising
By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA
Associated Press WriterTASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) -- Thousands of people, many of them armed, took to the streets of an eastern Uzbek city on Friday, attacking a prison and freeing the inmates to protest the detention of prominent businessmen on charges of Islamic extremism, witnesses said.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov and other leaders immediately rushed to Andijan, where witnesses reported chaos in the streets. The city 300 miles east of Tashkent near the Kyrgyz border has been the scene of growing unrest in recent weeks.
The 23 defendants are charged with anti-constitutional activity and forming a criminal and extremist organization, but rights activists say the case is part of a broad government crackdown on religious dissent.
Valijon Atakhonjonov, the brother of one of the accused, said security forces fired shots in the air as thousands of people massed in front of the local administration building.
"The people have risen," he said by telephone.
Armed demonstrators went to a prison to free inmates overnight, Atakhonjonov said, but he could not confirm reports that the crowd had attacked an army garrison as well.
A government spokesman, also reached by telephone from Tashkent, said administrative buildings remained under government control.
On Wednesday several thousand people turned out to protest the allegations against the men, who have been on trial since early February on charges of being Islamic extremists. It was one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in the ex-Soviet republic.
Radical Islam was a bugaboo for the Soviet Union long before its collapse and was partly behind Moscow's decision to invade Afghanistan in the last days of 1979. The movement continues to bedevil Central Asian leaders, especially in neighboring Uzbekistan, where deep-rooted radical groups have been accused of a series of bombings and militant incursions.
Thousands of Muslims have been jailed in Uzbekistan over the past few years in a government campaign that critics say has affected many innocent believers and only inflamed anger against Karimov's harsh rule.
Uzbekistan emerged as a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 11 attacks, and hosts hundreds of U.S. troops.
The men, arrested in June, are accused of being members of the Akramia religious group and having contacts with the outlawed radical Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Authorities accuse Hizb-ut-Tahrir of inspiring terror attacks in Uzbekistan last year that killed more than 50. The group, which claims to eschew violence, denied responsibility.
Akramia unites followers of jailed Uzbek Islamic dissident Akram Yuldashev, who was accused of calling for the overthrow of the predominantly Muslim country's secular government _ an accusation he denies.
The group's members are considered the backbone of Andijan's small business community, giving employment to thousands of people in the impoverished and densely populated Fergana Valley.
Methinks this situation could get hot(ter) in a little while; it bears watching from the world community.
BBC - The troops are advancing toward the crowd. The situation is fluid.
Just a little missionary work by the religion of peace.
Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?
Uzbekistan blocks foreign TV signals
Uzbek authorities blocked foreign television broadcasts on Friday, preventing news channels such as Cable News Network and British Broadcasting Corp. as well as Russian channels from being seen in the country.
The move came as unrest exploded in the eastern town of Andijan, where nine people were killed and 34 wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces, according to President Islam Karimov's office.