Politics
Jun 30 2005 6:16PMKazakh president defends Uzbek govt actions during riots
ASTANA. June 30 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev
on Thursday stood up for the Uzbek authorities' violent suppression of
riots in Andizhan in May, saying that "terrorism and murder" must not be
lumped together with "human rights and freedoms" and that the crisis was
"an internal matter" of Uzbekistan anyway.
Nazarbayev was referring to a crisis that began with a group
overrunning a military base in the Uzbek city of Andizhan early on May
13 and getting hold of 305 pieces of firearms, including 205 assault
rifles. After that, the rioters released 600 inmates from a local prison
and took about 50 hostages.
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