Violence continues in Uzbekistan as 700 feared dead

[bemildred]

Gunfire persisted today in the eastern city where Uzbek security forces fired on protesters last week – a clash that reportedly left several hundred dead - and new reports emerged that violence in nearby towns killed hundreds more, further threatening the stability of the government.

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Saidjahon Zaynabitdinov, head of the local Appeal human rights advocacy group, said today that government troops had killed about 200 demonstrators on Saturday in Pakhtabad, about 18 miles north-east of Andijan.

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Andijan remained extremely tense today after gunfire continued throughout the night. Residents said government troops were fighting militants in Bogishonol, an outlying district of the city, but the claim could not officially be confirmed.

Alexei Volosevich, an Andijan correspondent for the Fergana.ru website, said witnesses told him that militants fired at police from the attics of apartment buildings near the city prison and that police eventually killed the assailants. There was no word about police casualties.

BreakingNews.IE

[ckramer]

1. Does anyone in the government care about this?

Do they have oil?

[Colorado Blue]

3. Actually, they are close to people who DO have oil: the

Iranians, the Caucasus oil fields, great untapped reserves in Turkmenistan. They were a part of the Soviet Union and abut Russia's southern flank.

This area is absolutely fascinating, a branch of the ancient Silk Road goes through here. There are very ancient cities and it is ethnically diverse. Some utterly fantastic art is created here, some of the most beautiful embroideries in the world. They are called "suzanis", after the Persian word for "needlework." The women traditionally made them for their dowries and their homes but they are making new ones for trade as well.

Lately, there have been some violent incidents. I found a report suggesting the Saudis are fomenting trouble, in order to keep a pipeline project from being built. Apparently they don't want to lose their market share. The pipeline would take Turkmen oil either west, to the Mediterranean sea, or south, through India, to ports there.

On the other hand I have also read that the Saudis, and Bush, along with other Anglo American oil interests, have INVESTED in the pipeline.

So go figure.

[bemildred]

5. Gas. nt

[LisaM]

2. I heard this on CBC radio news - on Saturday

it took that long for it to catch up here. Moreover, they did a piece that was several minutes long, with eyewitness accounts. It's shameful that we're just hearing of this now, at least as front page news.

[Colorado Blue]

4. Here's another good article, lots of detail:

Uzbek Jews asked God to stop this war
By SAM SER AND AP

A human rights advocacy group in Uzbekistan said on Monday that government troops' violence against protesters is "sheer genocide against the people."

Saidjahon Zaynabitdinov, head of the local human rights group, told Associated Press Television News: "The people now are more afraid of government troops than of any so-called militants."

Zaynabitdinov reiterated the protesters' contention that they were not aiming to overthrow the government, but simply wanted to air their grievances.

"The demonstrators did not have any claims to power. It was just an outpouring of people's feelings. People were driven out into the streets," he said.

snip

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1116123544425