TASHKENT, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov was quoted on Monday as saying that poor local government was partly to blame for last year's violence in the Uzbek town of Andizhan that claimed hundreds of lives.

Witnesses said hundreds were killed on May 13, 2005, among them women and children, when troops opened fire on a protest in Andizhan. Uzbekistan has blamed the riot on Islamist extremists and said most of the dead were armed insurgents.

The official press-uz.info Internet news agency said Karimov, who made a trip to Andizhan last week, has fired the local governor.

In an unusually explicit reference to official shortcomings, Karimov said extremists in Andizhan "had taken advantage of the local authorities' myopic policies", the news agency reported.

It quoted Karimov accusing the governor of "neglecting people's needs, bluffing and leading an idle life."

Karimov has defended his rule by saying only tough action can curb Islamist extremists who, he says, have infiltrated Uzbekistan from neighbouring Afghanistan.

AlertNet news is provided by