Uzbek govt vows to keep UN informed on unrest

Uzbek refugees get a soup at the refugee camp just outside the Kyrgyz village of Barash, some 40km from Andijan, at the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border Thursday. Uzbek troops Thursday reclaimed control of the eastern town of Kara-Suu, where protestors had chased out federal authorities following a bloody military crackdown in the nearby city of Andijan. PHOTO: AFP

Karimov spoke by telephone with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday and informed him "in detail about the events that took place on May 13 in the city of Andijan," the state news agency UZA reported Friday.

Karimov "agreed to continue the closest of contacts and information exchange about the situation in Andijan and the region as a whole" with Annan, the report said.

The UN secretary general voiced concern about the loss of life and "expressed the necessity of carrying out the most thorough investigation of the events and the punishment of those responsible," it added.

But Karimov's office subsequently denied a report by Russia's NTV television network that the Uzbek leader and Annan had discussed the possibility of an independent inquiry into the violence that may have left up to 1,000 people dead, as some countries have called for.

"During the discussions of President Islam Karimov and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan no proposal about carrying out an independent investigation into the recent events in Andijan was discussed," a statement from the president's office said.

Such reports were "yet another invention," it added.

Britain, Germany and several other countries have called for an independent, international investigation into the events in and around Andijan that began on May 13, which the Uzbek government said killed 169 people -- but which local and international rights groups and residents say have left between 500 and 1,000 people dead.

The United States, which has an air base in Uzbekistan that is a key logistical link for its operations in neighbouring Afghanistan, has by contrast stopped noticeably short of calling for an "international" and "independent" probe.

Instead, Washington has said officially it wanted to see Uzbek authorities conduct an investigation that was "credible" and "transparent" -- in essence a call for the authorities in Uzbekistan to investigate themselves.

A senior US official, however, speaking to a group of journalists in Moscow on Thursday, cautioned that Washington may reassess its financial assistance to the Central Asian country if the government in Tashkent failed to conduct what the United States considered a credible probe.

Despite apparent differences in the West on how to approach the situation in Uzbekistan, the heat was rising on the regime in Tashkent to the point where some independent observers predicted that the events in Andijan could mark "the beginning of the end" for Karimov.

Meanwhile, the UN's top human rights official yesterday stepped up the pressure on Uzbekistan's leader over an investigation into clashes between protestors and security forces that left scores of civilians dead.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, reaffirmed her calls on Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov to allow an independent probe of events in the city of Andijan, her office said.

Uzbek authorities have pledged to keep the UN informed of unrest in his country, but has resisted calls for a probe of an alleged massacre of civilians.