http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/04/news/uzbek.php
U.S. and Israel evacuate staff from Uzbekistan By C.J. Chivers The New York Times SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2005 MOSCOW Signs of instability deepened Friday in Uzbekistan after Israel swiftly evacuated most of its diplomats from the country amid fresh warnings of terror attacks, and the U.S. Embassy authorized much of its staff to leave as well. Only the Israeli ambassador and a senior official remained in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, according to Mark Legev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, who said that 13 other embassy employees and their families flew out of Uzbekistan on Thursday night. The evacuation came as the United States issued a warning saying that it had received new information that Islamic terror groups were planning attacks, perhaps against Americans. The warning mentioned four terror organizations - Al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement - that it said are active in the region. Diplomats from both countries declined to release details of the intelligence. Legev said in a telephone interview only that Israel had received "a specific threat against an Israeli target by an extremist element." After the threat was evaluated, he said, the decision was quickly made for most of the diplomatic corps to leave. The threats underscored the fresh difficulties in Uzbekistan for the United States, whose activities in the country are being restricted simultaneously by the risks of terror attacks and by diplomatic chill. The Uzbek government, stung by criticism of its bloody crackdown on a prison break and antigovernment demonstration last month, and increasingly isolated by its antidemocratic posture, has adopted a cooler position toward the United States, which has used a former Soviet air base near the Afghan border since late in 2001. This week, the Uzbek government refused to renew visas for 54 Peace Corps volunteers, who were forced to leave the country, according to Barbara Daly, the Peace Corps' spokeswoman in Washington. The nation's stability and direction are in question. An authoritarian state with a population deeply resentful of its central government's repression and corruption, it has been buffeted by terror attacks and wider public unrest and has suffered three waves of violence since early last year. In April 2004, several attacks, including ones by suicide bombers, were staged in Tashkent and Bukhara, an ancient Silk Road city in the country's west. Nearly 50 people were killed, according to official Uzbek reports. Three more suicide bombers struck nearly simultaneously last July, one each at the Israeli Embassy, the American Embassy and the Uzbek general prosecutor's office in Tashkent. In addition to the bombers, at least two more people died. The country, an ally of the United States in efforts against terrorists, has been enveloped by uncertainty since May 13, when Uzbek security forces used gunfire to put down a revolt, prison break and large antigovernment demonstration in Andijon, a city in the northeastern Fergana Valley. Witnesses say hundreds of unarmed people were killed when the authorities resorted to indiscriminate force. The Uzbek government says 36 soldiers and 137 others, mostly armed men, died. By either account, it was the worst violence of its sort in a post-Soviet region since the Soviet Union collapsed. With violence apparently fueled both by social disaffection and militant Islamists, it is not entirely clear who has been responsible for each outbreak - a subject of debate among diplomats, analysts, scholars and intelligence officials. The government of President Islam Karimov, who routinely blames Uzbekistan's ills on Islamic terrorists, has said the Andijon uprising was planned by international terror groups and a faction of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, a mostly underground organization that seeks to create governments ruled by its view of Islamic tradition. The party, which says it is peaceful, has denied any involvement. Demonstrators who survived the crackdown contend the uprising was organized by local men made desperate by the economic underdevelopment and repression that have become synonymous with Karimov's regime. MOSCOW Signs of instability deepened Friday in Uzbekistan after Israel swiftly evacuated most of its diplomats from the country amid fresh warnings of terror attacks, and the U.S. Embassy authorized much of its staff to leave as well. Only the Israeli ambassador and a senior official remained in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, according to Mark Legev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, who said that 13 other embassy employees and their families flew out of Uzbekistan on Thursday night. The evacuation came as the United States issued a warning saying that it had received new information that Islamic terror groups were planning attacks, perhaps against Americans. The warning mentioned four terror organizations - Al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement - that it said are active in the region. Diplomats from both countries declined to release details of the intelligence. Legev said in a telephone interview only that Israel had received "a specific threat against an Israeli target by an extremist element." After the threat was evaluated, he said, the decision was quickly made for most of the diplomatic corps to leave. The threats underscored the fresh difficulties in Uzbekistan for the United States, whose activities in the country are being restricted simultaneously by the risks of terror attacks and by diplomatic chill. The Uzbek government, stung by criticism of its bloody crackdown on a prison break and antigovernment demonstration last month, and increasingly isolated by its antidemocratic posture, has adopted a cooler position toward the United States, which has used a former Soviet air base near the Afghan border since late in 2001. This week, the Uzbek government refused to renew visas for 54 Peace Corps volunteers, who were forced to leave the country, according to Barbara Daly, the Peace Corps' spokeswoman in Washington. The nation's stability and direction are in question. An authoritarian state with a population deeply resentful of its central government's repression and corruption, it has been buffeted by terror attacks and wider public unrest and has suffered three waves of violence since early last year. In April 2004, several attacks, including ones by suicide bombers, were staged in Tashkent and Bukhara, an ancient Silk Road city in the country's west. Nearly 50 people were killed, according to official Uzbek reports. Three more suicide bombers struck nearly simultaneously last July, one each at the Israeli Embassy, the American Embassy and the Uzbek general prosecutor's office in Tashkent. In addition to the bombers, at least two more people died. The country, an ally of the United States in efforts against terrorists, has been enveloped by uncertainty since May 13, when Uzbek security forces used gunfire to put down a revolt, prison break and large antigovernment demonstration in Andijon, a city in the northeastern Fergana Valley. Witnesses say hundreds of unarmed people were killed when the authorities resorted to indiscriminate force. The Uzbek government says 36 soldiers and 137 others, mostly armed men, died. By either account, it was the worst violence of its sort in a post-Soviet region since the Soviet Union collapsed. With violence apparently fueled both by social disaffection and militant Islamists, it is not entirely clear who has been responsible for each outbreak - a subject of debate among diplomats, analysts, scholars and intelligence officials. The government of President Islam Karimov, who routinely blames Uzbekistan's ills on Islamic terrorists, has said the Andijon uprising was planned by international terror groups and a faction of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, a mostly underground organization that seeks to create governments ruled by its view of Islamic tradition. The party, which says it is peaceful, has denied any involvement. Demonstrators who survived the crackdown contend the uprising was organized by local men made desperate by the economic underdevelopment and repression that have become synonymous with Karimov's regime. MOSCOW Signs of instability deepened Friday in Uzbekistan after Israel swiftly evacuated most of its diplomats from the country amid fresh warnings of terror attacks, and the U.S. Embassy authorized much of its staff to leave as well. Only the Israeli ambassador and a senior official remained in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, according to Mark Legev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, who said that 13 other embassy employees and their families flew out of Uzbekistan on Thursday night. The evacuation came as the United States issued a warning saying that it had received new information that Islamic terror groups were planning attacks, perhaps against Americans. The warning mentioned four terror organizations - Al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement - that it said are active in the region. Diplomats from both countries declined to release details of the intelligence. Legev said in a telephone interview only that Israel had received "a specific threat against an Israeli target by an extremist element." After the threat was evaluated, he said, the decision was quickly made for most of the diplomatic corps to leave. The threats underscored the fresh difficulties in Uzbekistan for the United States, whose activities in the country are being restricted simultaneously by the risks of terror attacks and by diplomatic chill. The Uzbek government, stung by criticism of its bloody crackdown on a prison break and antigovernment demonstration last month, and increasingly isolated by its antidemocratic posture, has adopted a cooler position toward the United States, which has used a former Soviet air base near the Afghan border since late in 2001. This week, the Uzbek government refused to renew visas for 54 Peace Corps volunteers, who were forced to leave the country, according to Barbara Daly, the Peace Corps' spokeswoman in Washington. The nation's stability and direction are in question. An authoritarian state with a population deeply resentful of its central government's repression and corruption, it has been buffeted by terror attacks and wider public unrest and has suffered three waves of violence since early last year. In April 2004, several attacks, including ones by suicide bombers, were staged in Tashkent and Bukhara, an ancient Silk Road city in the country's west. Nearly 50 people were killed, according to official Uzbek reports. Three more suicide bombers struck nearly simultaneously last July, one each at the Israeli Embassy, the American Embassy and the Uzbek general prosecutor's office in Tashkent. In addition to the bombers, at least two more people died. The country, an ally of the United States in efforts against terrorists, has been enveloped by uncertainty since May 13, when Uzbek security forces used gunfire to put down a revolt, prison break and large antigovernment demonstration in Andijon, a city in the northeastern Fergana Valley. Witnesses say hundreds of unarmed people were killed when the authorities resorted to indiscriminate force. The Uzbek government says 36 soldiers and 137 others, mostly armed men, died. By either account, it was the worst violence of its sort in a post-Soviet region since the Soviet Union collapsed. With violence apparently fueled both by social disaffection and militant Islamists, it is not entirely clear who has been responsible for each outbreak - a subject of debate among diplomats, analysts, scholars and intelligence officials. The government of President Islam Karimov, who routinely blames Uzbekistan's ills on Islamic terrorists, has said the Andijon uprising was planned by international terror groups and a faction of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, a mostly underground organization that seeks to create governments ruled by its view of Islamic tradition. The party, which says it is peaceful, has denied any involvement. Demonstrators who survived the crackdown contend the uprising was organized by local men made desperate by the economic underdevelopment and repression that have become synonymous with Karimov's regime. MOSCOW Signs of instability deepened Friday in Uzbekistan after Israel swiftly evacuated most of its diplomats from the country amid fresh warnings of terror attacks, and the U.S. Embassy authorized much of its staff to leave as well. Only the Israeli ambassador and a senior official remained in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, according to Mark Legev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, who said that 13 other embassy employees and their families flew out of Uzbekistan on Thursday night. The evacuation came as the United States issued a warning saying that it had received new information that Islamic terror groups were planning attacks, perhaps against Americans. The warning mentioned four terror organizations - Al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement - that it said are active in the region. Diplomats from both countries declined to release details of the intelligence. Legev said in a telephone interview only that Israel had received "a specific threat against an Israeli target by an extremist element." After the threat was evaluated, he said, the decision was quickly made for most of the diplomatic corps to leave. The threats underscored the fresh difficulties in Uzbekistan for the United States, whose activities in the country are being restricted simultaneously by the risks of terror attacks and by diplomatic chill. The Uzbek government, stung by criticism of its bloody crackdown on a prison break and antigovernment demonstration last month, and increasingly isolated by its antidemocratic posture, has adopted a cooler position toward the United States, which has used a former Soviet air base near the Afghan border since late in 2001. This week, the Uzbek government refused to renew visas for 54 Peace Corps volunteers, who were forced to leave the country, according to Barbara Daly, the Peace Corps' spokeswoman in Washington. The nation's stability and direction are in question. An authoritarian state with a population deeply resentful of its central government's repression and corruption, it has been buffeted by terror attacks and wider public unrest and has suffered three waves of violence since early last year. In April 2004, several attacks, including ones by suicide bombers, were staged in Tashkent and Bukhara, an ancient Silk Road city in the country's west. Nearly 50 people were killed, according to official Uzbek reports. Three more suicide bombers struck nearly simultaneously last July, one each at the Israeli Embassy, the American Embassy and the Uzbek general prosecutor's office in Tashkent. In addition to the bombers, at least two more people died. The country, an ally of the United States in efforts against terrorists, has been enveloped by uncertainty since May 13, when Uzbek security forces used gunfire to put down a revolt, prison break and large antigovernment demonstration in Andijon, a city in the northeastern Fergana Valley. Witnesses say hundreds of unarmed people were killed when the authorities resorted to indiscriminate force. The Uzbek government says 36 soldiers and 137 others, mostly armed men, died. By either account, it was the worst violence of its sort in a post-Soviet region since the Soviet Union collapsed. With violence apparently fueled both by social disaffection and militant Islamists, it is not entirely clear who has been responsible for each outbreak - a subject of debate among diplomats, analysts, scholars and intelligence officials. The government of President Islam Karimov, who routinely blames Uzbekistan's ills on Islamic terrorists, has said the Andijon uprising was planned by international terror groups and a faction of Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, a mostly underground organization that seeks to create governments ruled by its view of Islamic tradition. The party, which says it is peaceful, has denied any involvement. Demonstrators who survived the crackdown contend the uprising was organized by local men made desperate by the economic underdevelopment and repression that have become synonymous with Karimov's regime. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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