Story here via the Kansas City Star:
MOSCOW - (KRT) - As authorities struggled to restore calm in eastern Uzbekistan on Saturday after a bloody uprising a day earlier, President Islam Karimov defended the decision by his troops to quell the violence by firing into a large crowd, killing up to 300 people by some estimates.The uprising's toll became grimly clear at dawn Saturday, as soldiers were seen by witnesses pulling up four trucks and a bus to load the bodies of men, women and children shot to death by Uzbek troops in the eastern city of Andijan.
Saidjahon Zainabitdinov, an Andijan human-rights activist who watched soldiers, estimated that at least 300 bodies were loaded on the trucks and the bus. Another human-rights activist, Lutfulo Shamsutdinov, told The Associated Press that he counted 200 bodies being loaded.
[...]
Though Uzbek security forces regained control of Andijan on Saturday, thousands of protesters massed in the city square to denounce the government's violent crackdown on demonstrators Friday.
"They wanted someone to be held responsible for the bloodshed," said Mirafror Akhrorov, a Tajik journalist with Radio Liberty who was in Andijan on Saturday morning. "Some of them were saying, `Look what the authorities have done to us! Somebody has to pay!'"
The Uzbek government appeared to be trying to restrict media coverage of the ongoing violence. Russian television journalists in Andijan reported that Uzbek authorities arrested them and seized their passports. Roads in and out of the city were blockaded.
[...]
Uzbekistan is host to a U.S. air base in the Karshi-Khanabad region, 90 miles from the Afghan border, to support military operations in Afghanistan. The United States has called repeatedly over the years for Karimov's government to take steps toward greater openness and democracy.
It will be very interesting to see how the Bush administration reacts to this unfolding story. Uzbekistan's current authoritarian government has played the role of a good ally in the War On Terror. But Bush has repeatedly spoken out against tyranny in this region of the world, and in favor of "people power."
So, will Bush back the present Uzbek government in order to remain on good terms with them? Or will he openly support a democratic uprising? Or will he punt on the issue, and issue some banal statement about hoping for a "peaceful resolution" to this crisis?
In any event, if the Uzbek government falls, and a government less-friendly to the US takes power (rather likely), the US may lose its rights to Uzbekistan's air base. And, considering its close proximity to Afghanistan, that would be a very bad development in the War On Terror...
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Any hint what the protesters were protesting before they got shot?
Dave
2 - Quack Corleone
The protestors wanted the release of prisoners who they believe are victims of religious oppression at the hands of the Uzbek government. According to the Uzbek government, the prisoners are dangerous Islamic extremists and the protest itself was caused by Islamic fundamentalists who want to turn Uzbekistan into an Islamic state. The Uzbek president (whose first name is Islam!) is supported by Russia's Putin, so that probably tells you who's in the wrong. But, like RJ said, Uzbekistan supports the U.S. War on Terror, so it'll be interesting to see how the international reaction unfolds, if at all.
3 - Lyndon
There are a couple of blogs covering this as thoroughly as possible - Registan.net and Scraps of Moscow (my blog, natch).
Both have links to other blogs covering the story.
4 - The Demigodd
The U.S. won't do anything to Uzbekistan. Not as long as they're using that air force base. Besides, war would be too costly. The States have been known throughout the 20th and 21st century to look after only themselves. They really don't care about democracy unless it benefits themselves. Fuck them all.
Death to conformity.
Death to society.
5 - RJ
update here