<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4546673.stm>
Saturday, 14 May, 2005, 11:53 GMT 12:53 UK
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'High death toll' in Uzbekistan
--------------------------------
There were wildly different estimates of the death toll
Thousands of protesters have reappeared on the streets
of Andijan in Uzbekistan despite heavy bloodshed on Friday.
President Islam Karimov blamed the violence on Islamic
extremist "criminals". He said about 10 soldiers, and
"many others", were killed.
However, witnesses said troops opened fire on unarmed
civilians. Some said they had seen at least 200 bodies.
The government said it was back in control of the city
on Saturday, and had retaken administrative buildings.
But huge crowds were on the streets, shouting "killers,
murderers" and demanding the president step down.
"What kind of government is this?" one of the protesters
said to the Associated Press.
"People were raising their hands up in the air showing
they were without arms but soldiers were still shooting
at them."
'Bodies on trucks'
-----------------
The violence erupted after days of peaceful protest in
the eastern city of Andijan, against the imprisonment
of 23 local business leaders accused of Islamic extremism.
A mob reportedly seized arms from a local garrison,
before raiding the prison where the men were held and
freeing them, along with thousands of other inmates.
UZBEK TENSIONS
--------------
Most populous central Asian former Soviet republic,
home to 26m people Ruled since independence in 1991
by autocrat Islam Karimov Accused by rights groups
of serious human rights abuses, including torture
Rocked by violence in capital Tashkent in 2004
Government says radical Islamic groups behind
violence
They also took control of administrative buildings
in the city and took government workers hostage,
according to reports.
Just before dusk, troops moved in and opened fire
on the crowds in the city square.
Men, women and children fled in panic. One woman
spoke of "indiscriminate firing", and said she
saw "bloody corpses" lying in a ditch.
Helicopters hovered overhead as cars and buildings
burned, reports said.
President Karimov told a press conference that the
unrest was planned by Islamic militants linked with
the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, who wanted to
overthrow the government.
He said the leaders of the uprising had been on
the phone to Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan during
the siege.
"Their aims are hatred and aversion to the secular
path of development. These are unacceptable for us,"
he said.
President Karimov blamed the violence on Islamic
militants
On Saturday civilians dragged six bodies from an
abandoned administrative building, placing them
at the foot of a nearby monument to an Uzbek poet.
Witnesses said they had seen troops loading dozens
of bodies onto trucks.
Hospital officials told the BBC that at least 50
had died and many more were wounded throughout
the day.
The city appeared calmer on Saturday, though the
occasional shot could be heard in the background,
a reporter for the AFP agency said.
Troops were standing by in neighbouring streets as
people began to fill the square.
Journalists said they were being expelled by soldiers
who had set up a cordon around the city.
I think the West should rethink its relationship
with Uzbekistan
Bauyrzhan Meirmanov, Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Authorities in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan said thousands
of terrified Uzbeks had gathered on the border, and
about 500 had managed to break through.
Friday's violence prompted alarm around the world.
In the US, White House spokesman Scott McClellan called
for both sides to show restraint.
The EU criticised Uzbek leaders for not paying enough
attention to human rights, the rule of law and
relieving poverty.
Mr Karimov has taken a tough line on security since
a spate of suicide bombings last year, blamed on
Islamic extremists.
But critics say the president is using the threat of
extremism as a cover to crush dissent.
Andijan, in the densely-populated Ferghana Valley,
has a long tradition of independent thought, and is
eyed by the government with suspicion, says the
BBC's Monica Whitlock in Tashkent.
Thousands of local people have been locked up.
Along with high poverty and unemployment, it has
pushed many people beyond the limit of endurance,
she says
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