An Uzbek boy stands in front of Uzbek soldiers as they guard the checkpoint in the town of Korasuv at the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, about 470 km east of the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Saturday. (AP/Mikhail Metzel)

KORASUV, Uzbekistan (AP) - Angry residents of an Uzbek border town spilled into the streets again Saturday, protesting the arrest of their leader whose Islamic rebellion defied the authoritarian government. Several hundred residents of Korasuv, a town of 20,000 on the border with Kyrgyzstan, held placards urging the government to free Bakhtiyor Rakhimov, a farmer turned rebel leader.

"We are against terrorism," one poster read.

Rakhimov's followers claimed control of Korasuv last Saturday, inspired by riots in Andijan, about 30 kilometres away in the city of Andijan, where witnesses said Uzbek forces killed hundreds of protesters - most of whom were complaining about economic conditions.

On May 14, Korasuv residents burned government buildings, drove away authorities and rebuilt a bridge leading to a thriving bazaar on the Kyrgyz side of the border. The government had dismantled the bridge two years ago, leaving Korasuv residents struggling for survival.

The government troops swept into Korasuv before dawn Thursday, quickly arresting Rakhimov, his 14-year old son and close associates. Rakhimov's 25-year-old niece, Dilnoza, said Saturday that 15 people had been arrested, and Rakhimov, his son and several others remain in custody.

"We will stay here until they free them," Dilnoza Rakhimova said.

Other demonstrators hailed Rakhimov as a respected people's leader who had helped create jobs. "He did everything for the people, he's not against the government," said Aziza Ulukhodjjayeva, 47.

"He gave people jobs and a way to make money," she said, referring to the bridge which Rakhimov and his followers quickly restored after taking over.

Scores of police in riot gear were deployed near the bridge Saturday, but it remained open to the flow of traders heading to the bazaar in the Kyrgyz sister town of Kara-Suu.

Rakhimov's brother Faziljon addressed the crowds, asking protesters to calm down and roll up their posters in an apparent bid to soothe passions and avoid a crackdown.

Protests in Korasuv have been going on since Friday, but the government so far hasn't tried to quell them by force - apparently fearing an outcry from the West that has denounced the crackdown in Andijan and pushed for an international inquiry.

NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have joined the United Nations in pressing for an international probe into the alleged killing of hundreds, but Uzbek President Islam Karimov has shrugged off the demands.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asked by reporters about Uzbekistan, noted that $11 million USD in assistance had been withheld from that country last year because it did not meet human rights certification requirements.

The United States, Rice said, is encouraging the Uzbek government "to respond positively to the international community's justified concerns about what happened there."

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Friday he was "disappointed" with Karimov's rejection of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call for an international investigation.

Karimov has blamed Islamic militants for the unrest that began May 13 in Andijan and denies that his troops fired on unarmed civilians there. He rejected claims of rights activists who put the death toll at more than 700, and said that his government would investigate the riots without any foreign involvement. The government says 169 people died in Andijan.

Protesters stormed a prison in Andijan May 13, freed inmates and then seized local government offices, taking officials hostage. Among the freed inmates were 23 businessmen on trial for alleged Islamic extremism. Hours later, during a rally in the central square in Andijan, witnesses said troops shot indiscriminately into a crowd of protesters in the nation's worst violence since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

More than 500 refugees who escaped the Andijan violence fled to Kyrgyzstan, where they have appealed for asylum - ratcheting up already high tensions between the two central Asian neighbours.