Politics
Jun 17 2005 12:44PMAndizhan riot organizers reside abroad - president
TASHKENT. June 17 (Interfax) - The people who organized the May
riot in the eastern Uzbek city of Andizhan reside abroad, President
Islam Karimov said on Friday.
"The terrorist attacks staged in Andizhan on May 13 were not
accidental. The initiators and organizers of those crimes are abroad,"
Karimov said.
A variety of countries have shown a strong geopolitical interest in
Uzbekistan and Central Asia in general, the president said.
A preliminary investigation has established that 176 people,
including 79 terrorists, were killed and another 295, among them 62
terrorists, were injured in the Andizhan events, Uzbek First Deputy
Prosecutor General Anvar Naiyev said on Thursday.
"The Andizhan events were a thoroughly planned and organized action
staged by international radical forces. Its ultimate goal is a violent
change of the constitution" and the creation of an Islamic state, he
said.
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