Kyrgyz authorities denounce accusations

Osh governor, mayoralty officials, and other state officials of southern Kyrgyzstan call statements made by the Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office rubbish. Ferghana.Ru correspondents ran their own investigation to discover whether or not "training camps for Andizhan terrorists" had really existed in Kyrgyzstan.

A spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan said that the gunmen who incited a riot in Andizhan had been trained in Kyrgyzstan long in advance. Deputy Prosecutor General A. Nabiyev even gave the locations. He said that training camps had been organized in the city of Osh (on the stadium and at Panfilov High School) and in the settlement of Teke.

Ferghana.Ru correspondents visited the locations. Manzura Arslanova, Panfilov High School Principal, said that the Osh Municipal Prosecutor's Office had examined the premises but found no evidence that gunmen had even been trained in the school gym.

"We even talked to Uzbek investigators. No, I cannot say on what grounds they make assumptions of this sort. They have no evidence. They claim that they have someone in a detention cell and furthermore have this person's testimony. Who can check validity of their claims?" Arslanova said.

Zamir Askarov of the Osh Department of Travel, Tourism, and Youth Policy just sneered when approached for comments.

"Our stadium is not right for gunman training or anything like that," he said. "That's a laugh of a statement. Secondly, the stadium belongs to the state which means mayoralty's control at all times. All sorts of athletic events and concerts take place here regularly... This statement from the Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office, that's a lie. A trick, if you prefer. Somebody there said not long ago that gunmen had been trained in some village in the Qorasuv district. No evidence of that was ever found. Uzbekistan is but trying to shift blame on us."

It should be added as well that the stadium and Panfilov High School are located in Osh center. Right near the offices of the regional and municipal police, regional administration, and regional directorate of the National Security Service. Servicemen of security structures practice at the stadium every week.

Reached on the phone, Osh Governor Anvar Artikov called the accusations illogical and untrue.

"I personally checked it out," Artikov said. "I visited the settlement of Teke where the Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office claims gunmen had been trained. The claims do not have anything to do with hard facts."