CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ANKARA, 5 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Relations between Uzbekistan and the US took a blow this week, when Tashkent issued an order to close the US military base in the country on Saturday. US forces and equipment must leave Karshi-Khanabad airbase in the south of the former Soviet republic within 180 days, according to a Washington Post report, citing unnamed officials at the US State and Defence departments.

The move follows increased criticism from Washington over Tashkent's poor human rights record and a lack of political and economic reform, coupled with a recent violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon, in which according to rights groups upwards of 1,000 unarmed civilians may have been killed by Uzbek security forces. The Uzbek authorities maintain that only 187 were killed.

But Washington was not surprised by the move, Nicholas Burns, US Undersecretary of State for political affairs, told the BBC Uzbek service on Tuesday. "We made a clear choice and that was to stand on the side of human rights," Burns said.

"On the one hand we clearly have been supportive of efforts to strengthen our relationship on the military side. Of course, access to the base was useful to us, but on the other hand, the US felt it as very important we speak out clearly on behalf of those who were victims of human right abuses - particularly concerning the Andijon episode," the US official said.

Some reports suggested that the US could divert its operations in the region to its airbase in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. However, the Kyrgyz government reportedly said on Thursday that no request to expand the US Manas air base near the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, had been made. Around 1,000 US and NATO troops and fighter planes are currently stationed at the base.

Meanwhile, in Tajikistan a national association of journalists - the Media Alliance of Tajikistan (MAT) - was established in the capital Dushanbe on Saturday, the Tajik Avesta news agency reported. The new body is aimed at promoting freedom of speech, democracy, media independence, pluralism and the culture of impartial and free journalism.

Staying in Tajikistan, an opposition leader went on trial on Tuesday on charges including terrorism and attempted murder in a case his supporters maintain was politically motivated, AP reported.

Prosecutors at the Supreme Court also accused Makhmadruzi Iskandarov, the leader of Tajikistan's Democratic Party (DP), of illegal arms possession, abuse of office and the theft of state funds. His party says the charges are part of an effort by autocratic President Emomali Rahmonov's government to eliminate political rivals before next year's presidential elections.

Iskandarov, who intended to run, disappeared during a trip to Moscow in April. Shortly after, Tajik authorities said Iskandarov was under arrest in Tajikistan, but his lawyers say he was kidnapped and forcibly flown to the Central Asian country. The US has voiced concern that Iskandarov was denied regular and free access to his lawyers after his arrest and urged a fair trial.

In Kazakhstan, US President George W Bush urged his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev to follow up the Central Asian state's recent economic success with democratic reforms, AP reported on Tuesday. Bush's call comes in the wake of anti-government uprisings last spring in two other ex-Soviet republics in the region.

"The latest events in the region have stressed the importance of a balanced economic growth, responsible governance and democratic development," Bush said in a letter sent Monday, the president's press office said. "I urge you to make sure that economic reforms are backed up with bold democratic reforms in Kazakhstan."

Bush also urged Nazarbayev to ensure the country's upcoming presidential elections were free and fair. Nazarbayev, a former communist boss who has held power for 16 years, has said he intends to run for another seven-year term in the elections expected in December.

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