Recently in Uzbekistan Category

He's an "Idaho man," AP tells us, as if the reason why he plotted these jihad terror attacks was to protect the potato industry. "Idaho man pleads not guilty in alleged Uzbekistan terror plot," from the Associated Press, May 17 (thanks to Darcy):

BOISE, Idaho — An Uzbekistan national living in Boise said little during his first court appearance Friday on federal charges that he gave support, cash and other resources to help a recognized terrorist group in his home country plan a terrorist attack there.

Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, was arrested Thursday during a raid of his small apartment. Prosecutors have offered few details of their investigation or Kurbanov's alleged role in helping a militant group back home. He was charged in Idaho as well as Utah as a result of an extensive investigation into his activities late last year and this year.

Kurbanov pleaded not guilty during the hearing that lasted about 20 minutes. Kurbanov — with a short, cropped beard, dark hair and wearing a jail jumpsuit — spoke only a few words to the judge, their communication complicated by language differences.

Federal officials said they will enlist the help of an interpreter when Kurbanov, who lists Uzbek as his first language and Russian as his second in court documents, appears Tuesday for his detention hearing.

Until then, he will be held in the Ada County Jail. Kurbanov said he couldn't pay for an attorney, so federal public defender Richard Rubin was appointed to handle the case.

"Given his arrest, we believe any potential threat he posed has been contained,” said U.S Attorney Wendy Olson, who declined to comment on whether federal agents are pursuing additional arrests. Their investigation is ongoing, she said.

Kurbanov has been living in the United States legally, but his immigration status is unclear. He said he had a job driving trucks in Boise and listed his only assets as a couple of used cars and a small amount of cash in checking and savings accounts.

His trial on the three counts filed in Idaho is scheduled for July 2.

Olson said she has seen Internet comments blaming Idaho's Muslim community, something she called inappropriate. She said her office enjoys “outstanding partnerships” with its members.

“These charges shouldn't be seen as a reflection on that community,” Olson said.

This caveat is obligatory nowadays, and there is nothing particularly wrong with it except that it reflects the influence of Islamic supremacist advocacy groups like the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which push the fiction that Muslims in the U.S. are in danger of a large-scale "backlash" after jihad attacks occur or jihad plots are revealed.

The Idaho indictment charges Kurbanov with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and possession of an unregistered explosive device.

It alleges that between August and May, Kurbanov knowingly conspired with others to provide support and resources, including computer software and money, to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the U.S. has identified as a terrorist organization. The group's purpose is to overthrow the government of Uzbekistan, said David B. Barlow, U.S. attorney in Utah. The alleged co-conspirators were not named.

The indictment also alleges Kurbanov provided material support to terrorists, knowing that the help was to be used in preparation for a plot involving the use of a weapon of mass destruction. On Nov. 15, Kurbanov possessed an explosive device, consisting of a series of parts intended to be converted into a bomb, according to the indictment. Those parts included a hollow hand grenade, a hobby fuse, aluminum powder, potassium nitrate and sulfur.

A separate federal grand jury in Utah charged Kurbanov with distributing information about explosives, bombs and weapons of mass destruction. For 10 days in January, Kurbanov taught and demonstrated how to make an “explosive, destructive device, and weapon of mass destruction,” the document states.

The Utah indictment, which will be handled separately after the Idaho prosecution is resolved, alleges that Kurbanov provided written recipes for how to make improvised explosive devices and went on instructional shopping trips in Utah showing what items are necessary to buy in order to make the devices, Barlow said. Kurbanov also showed Internet videos on the topic, Barlow said.

The prosecutor declined to say whom Kurbanov took on the shopping trips in Utah but said that information will come out as the case proceeds.

The indictment from Utah also alleges that Kurbanov intended that the videos, recipes, instructions and shopping trips be used to make an explosive device for the “bombings of a place of public use, public transportation system, and infrastructure facility.”...

That's what Hamas-linked CAIR's Ahmed Rehab says jihad is, after all: "Jihad for us is daily struggle, it is going to school, whatever it is people go through." Yet somehow this "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" got the crazy and totally unfounded notion that jihad had something to do with al-Qaeda. They must have gotten hold of some of my books.

"France: 9 Convicted for Link to Uzbek Terror Group," from the Associated Press, January 8 (thanks to Lookmann):

PARIS (AP) — A Paris court has convicted nine people for links to a militant group that the U.N. Security Council has described as an al-Qaida affiliate.

The trial that began last month came four years after police in France, Germany and the Netherlands rounded up the suspects.

The defendants convicted in connection with collecting funds for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the U.N. listed as an al-Qaida affiliate weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Defense lawyers said the funds were for humanitarian uses — such as paying for sheep for slaughter under Muslim ritual.

This appears to be an attempt at legal strongarming, a la Pakistan's blasphemy laws. But it is interesting to note that Christian missionary activity can get one arrested and fined in "secular" Uzbekistan. Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Christian family converted to Islam, beaten, tried in Tashkent," from Uznews.net, August 12 (thanks to Filip):

Orthodox Christian Natalya Pleshakova who is disabled from childhood and her mother have been severely beaten up and tried in Tashkent.

Pleshakova, 26, a disabled from childhood, will forever remember her day on 6 August.

At about 4 o'clock in the morning the gate of their house on Ok Yul Street in Tashkent was broken and six strong men with sticks and clubs stormed into their yard.

Natalya who is on the crutches walked towards them hardly managing to cover herself. When she asked "Who are you?" she received a first blow and she was dragged to the kitchen.

What did police look for?

What did six huge men who turned the house upside down need? One of them looked for house documents while others collected icons, bibles, religious calendars and prayer books.

All this happened under the very eyes of a beat officer who filmed everything on his mobile phone, trying to catch Natalya or her mother Valentina Semenovna avoid hits or answer curses and insults.

Natalya, in handcuffs, manages to sneak into her room to make calls to police and an orthodox church. When they saw her do that they seized her phone and beat her up again.

All this had lasted for four hours when a Damas minibus arrived with several officers with assault rifles in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas. Their leader said he was "Aziz from police". The women decided they were saved but not yet.

They were beaten up in front of neighbours who were called up as witnesses to represent a neighbourhood committee.

Charges of missionary activities

The events unfolded in office 303 at Tashkent's Mirabad district police department where Natalya and her mother were taken.

There Natalya was offered to convert to Islam for its allegedly being better than Christianity, since it allows a man to have four wives. The young woman refused.

She then was threatened and beaten. Frightened and exhausted, Natalya was then forced to write a tender saying that she had stored 125 religious books and items, and "Aziz from police" dictated her titles which she heard for the first time.

"Aziz from police" said that there was nothing wrong in writing that it all belonged to a dead grandmother, and the knackered women were set free at about two in the morning.

Natalya called ambulance and was taken to hospital where her injuries were documented.

Trial

The following day the women went to the district prosecutor's office which refused to accept their complaint. Soon afterwards "Aziz from police" and the beat officer drove them to a court trial and the women were handed over to two officers.

Judge B Ermatov spent only five minutes on "hearing the case", the women said, and ordered them to go home without even reading out his ruling. Only a week later did they receive the ruling.

The judge decided that the women had resisted police and had stored the banned religious literature at home and conducted missionary activities. He fined them 20 minimum monthly wages each....

What is behind this horror?

The women said that someone wanted to appropriate a plot of land on which their house stands.....

Priorities. "Uzbekistan: An 'unsanctioned meeting in a private home' - with a bomb?," by Mushfig Bayram for Forum 18 News Service, May 9 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Uzbekistan has continued to punish people exercising the right to freedom of religion or belief without state permission, Forum 18 News Service notes. Between February and April, 28 Protestants were fined and four were warned for the "offence", with three Baptists also being fined for not declaring their personal Bibles while crossing the border from Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan. The fines and warnings were accompanied by the confiscation of religious literature.

Bomb disposal the Uzbek way..

In the region around the capital Tashkent, eight police and National Security Service (NSS) secret police raided the home of Natalya Kim in Yukori-Chirchik on 27 February, Protestants who wished to remain unnamed for the fear of state reprisals told Forum 18 on 3 May. Kim had – according to a subsequent court verdict - "arranged an unauthorized gathering in her home and led a religious meeting". Local Protestants told Forum 18 that police claimed at the time that a bomb was hidden in Kim's home.

Sorry, fellas. If you're looking for bombs, you won't find them in a Bible study. For that, you'll have to go to a mosque.

Another arrest, in an update on this story. "FBI: Port Richmond man funded terror group," from WPVI, March 15:

PHILADELPHIA - March 15, 2012 (WPVI) -- Federal authorities have arrested a Port Richmond resident and charged him with providing material support and resources to a terrorist organization based in Uzbekistan.

Bakhtiyor Jumaev, 45, of the 3100 block of Richmond Street, is charged with funneling money to the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a fundamentalist group opposed to the secular government in Uzbekistan.

The group has been linked to the 2004 suicide bombing attacks on the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Uzbekistan. The U.S. government designed the IJU a terrorist organization in 2005.

Jumaev's arrest Thursday morning follows the January 21st arrest of an alleged co-conspirator, Jamshid Muhtorov, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

In court documents, the FBI says it monitored mobile phone conversations between Jumaev and Muhtorov between February 2010 and January 2012.

The FBI says the men discussed planned terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan, code named "weddings." The conversations also allegedly included references to money raised and funneled overseas in support of attacks.

The court documents also refer to a $300 check traced from Jumaev to Muhtorov in support of IJU activities.

The prior report linked above details how Muhtarov got into the U.S. as a refugee with the help of the U.N.

Court documents also describe terrorist videos and other incriminating material found on Jumaev's computers, which were seized from his Port Richmond home last month.

If convicted, Jumaev faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.

Jumaev made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, where he was advised of his rights and the charges pending against him.

No doubt it never entered their mind that he was anything but a "moderate."

An update on this story. "US, UN Helped Colo. Man Now Accused of Terrorism," from the Associated Press, January 31 (thanks to Kenneth):

A man from Uzbekistan that the United States and the United Nations helped relocate to Colorado now faces a terrorism charge.

Jamshid Muhtorov opposed his home country's dictator following a 2005 massacre, endured a brutal detention, and saw his sister arrested on a false murder charge. The 35-year-old fled his country by night dressed as a woman, and the U.S. and the U.N. helped bring him to Aurora in 2007.

Now, he's accused of providing material support and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union. The violent group opposes the Uzbek government and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

Authorities arrested Muhtorov in Chicago on Jan. 21, the Denver Post reported Tuesday ( http://bit.ly/yHsRIF ).

Federal authorities say the Islamic Jihad Union has claimed responsibility for attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, including a March 2008 suicide attack on a U.S. base. The group is also blamed for carrying out simultaneous suicide bombings of the U.S. and Israeli embassies and a prosecutor's office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

"It is a crime, and has been a crime for many years, to provide material support for a designated terrorist organization, the IJU," said Dean Boyd, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington. "Our job is to enforce the law."

The FBI said Muhtorov communicated with a contact with the IJU by email using code words, asking to be invited to the "wedding." He also told the contact that he was "ready for any task, even with the risk of dying," the FBI said.

Authorities said there was no evidence that Muhtorov planned any attacks within the U.S....

American officials had described Muhtorov as a human rights worker whose activism began while he was trying to make a living in his home city, Jizzak. He ran up against corrupt officials expecting payments, which is common in Uzbekistan, and spoke out....

During this time, he worked closely with Human Rights Watch....

Muhtorov and his family resettled in Aurora, a Denver suburb, and obtained a job as a truck driver....

Muhtorov's colleagues at the UZ Auto Trans company, where he hauled cars for dealers to destinations across the country, knew that he opposed the Uzbek regime.

"I knew him as a good guy. Praying. He never talked bad about the U.S. Maybe he was angry with the regime back in Uzbekistan," said Ishmael Abdubafour, a former truck driver with the company. "He had the long beard and stuff, but that doesn't mean anything. We see a lot of people who have the beard. He was very gentle."

A decent fellow.

How did all these madrassa students and memorizers of the Qur'an misunderstand Islam so spectacularly as to think that jihad had something to do with a hot war against infidels?

"An Uzbek struggle in name only," by J Z Adams for Asia Times, January 25:

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in November released on its website, alfurqon.com, a list of its "martyrs" of 2011. The most striking aspect of the list, with its biographies and profile photographs written in the Cyrillic alphabet of the Uzbek language, is that only four of the 87 martyrs were from Uzbekistan.

The list shows how the IMU has evolved from being a group focused on overthrowing the "apostate" regime of Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan in the late 1990s and early 2000s into the global jihadi movement that it is now. Neither the biographies nor the preface to the list focus on Uzbekistan, and while 64 martyrs come from Afghanistan, 10 were from Tajikistan, six from Kyrgyzstan, with one each from Tatarstan (Russia), Germany and Pakistan.

Since the IMU left its bases in northern Afghanistan and took refuge with the Taliban in South Waziristan, Pakistan, after the US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2011, the composition of IMU fighters has become so "indigenized" in Afghanistan-Pakistan that the IMU is "Uzbek" in name only.

The IMU's priorities are now one and the same with the Taliban. As shown by the biographies, the IMU is focused on expelling the US from Afghanistan and fighting the Pakistani and Afghan armies.

Only after the US and its allies are defeated in Afghanistan can the IMU return to its bases in northern Afghanistan and fulfill the goals of its leader from 2002 to 2009, Tohir Yuldashev, who envisioned the IMU overthrowing the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian governments in order to establish an Islamic State in all of "Turkistan"....

The following are some excerpts from the list of martyrs about the IMU's focus on fighting international forces; its continued respect for Yuldashev despite the group's current Afghanistan-oriented strategy; the use of madrassas (seminaries) for recruitment; the challenges of pulling jihadis from their families; the role of revenge against the US in motivating IMU fighters; and the IMU's pride for multi-ethnicism within its ranks....

Qori Mirojiddin "Muoz" (Baghlan, Afghanistan): He was studying the Koran in the madrassas in Khoja District of Takhor Province. When the battle against the hypocrites and the apostates flourished in his region, he considered it a shame not to help his Muslim brothers. He immediately joined the mujahideen. When the hypocritical Afghan army troops became stronger, and the region was taken over by a pro-American government, together with mujahideen Mirojiddin moved to Baghlan province. His sacrifice was destined to be in the Burka district of Baghlan province. May Allah bless this martyr friend of ours.

Ammor (Afghanistan, Saripul): Ammor comes from the Arab population living in Afghanistan. Although he was born in Saripul, he received his education in a madrassa located in Kunduz. This is where he became interested in jihad. He took part in jihad activities and received military training at an IMU base. After completing his training he was sent to Saripul where soon after he was killed in a fight against infidels. His death had a huge impact on his relatives and friends and many of them decided to join the jihad. During the next fights they succeeded in destroying an American "Chinook" helicopter.

Qori Bashir "Mus'ab" (Afghanistan, Baghlan): Qori Bashir was born in 1987 in Burka. During his childhood years he went through an orphan's school lifestyle. In 2004, at the age 17 he was accepted to "dorul huffoz" (a madrassa meaning "Abode of Recitation"). He started learning Sharia. Despite his weak physical state and proneness to illness he joined the jihad movement. Few months afterwards he sacrificed himself to Allah.

Shoh Masud "Talha" (Afghanistan, Baghlan): Shoh Masud also comes from Burka. He was a regular student at a madrassa. With his love and dedication to jihad he joined the Movement. However due to his young age he was not accepted for a while. At the end he achieved his goal. He joined the Movement, participated in jihad, and became a martyr.

Mullo Fayzulloh "Muttaqiy" (Afghanistan, Baghan): Mullo Fayzullo from Burka was famous for his name "Muttaqiy" and spent most of his life in madrassas. It was a short time before he was about to finish the required studies and start wearing a white turban, but it did not happen .... He sacrificed himself in the name of the war against Islam's enemies.

Qori Abdul Hamid(Uzbekistan, Mingbulak): Abdul Hamid also was raised in our madrassa. At 17 he became a Koran hofiz [reciter]. Before that he learned to use weapons and took part in jihad because in our Movement young men start when they are 15-16 years old ...

Shamsur Rahmon "Yusuf" (Afghanistan, Tahor): Shamsur Rahmon was born in Tahor. He joined the Movement in the winter. As usually happens, his parents tried to convince him to go back home, however they did not succeed. Soon after he gave his soul to Allah....

Najmon "Muhojir sohib" (Afghanistan, Baghlan): Najmon comes from Kunduz province's Khanabad area. His father was a well-educated person and during the invasion by the Soviets he served as a doctor. He also was a mentor to Najmon. He had a family and children ... However, he had a strong desire to serve Islam and Muslims. This led to his decision to join the Movement. He regularly supplied the movement with weapons. His hotel (guesthouse) was always full of jihad fellows. At 30 he sacrificed himself to the Allah, Inshallah....

Abu Zar, who has dedicated his life to the study of Islam, somehow succumbs to Islamophobia misrepresentations of his peaceful religion, and calls on Pakistanis in mosques and madrassas not to wage interior spiritual jihad, but armed jihad against the Pakistani government. How very strange. How did greasy Islamophobes get so much influence over Abu Zar and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan?

"Uzbekistan al-Qaida Affiliate Pushes Attacks Against Pakistan," from IPT News, August 30 (thanks to Benedict):

The Mufti of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan [IMZ], a central Asian affiliate of al-Qaida, has called on Pakistani scholars to declare war on the nation's government. In published remarks to Pakistani scholars, the Mufti highlighted how suicide teenage bombers had empowered the movement but the militant scholars had yet to join the fight.

"Our small brothers and youth, his age is 16 … 15 years, he wraps his body and chest with this powder and blows himself up against the malignant cursed Pakistani army. So why don't you Ulema [scholars] speak," asked Abu Zar, Mufti of the Islamic Movement, in his meeting with a group of Pakistani scholars. "Five years ago we began this jihad, so O' Ulema we ask Allah that you be with us, be with the truthful."

According to Abu Zar, the Pakistani and Afghani jihads are a single front against the American-Pakistan government alliance. While the common people have taken up the call of jihad, convincing the scholars has proven more difficult.

"Every year more than one thousand Ulema [scholars] graduate from the Madrassas. But going to the battle, you will only find one Alim [scholar] that is good for the mujahidin," he said. "That's why I ask you, I hope from you to be with the mujahidin, to be with the fighters in combat. And urge your students in your universities, mosques and Madrassas."

This story vividly illustrates the bankruptcy of the common claim that jihadis are simply reacting to provocations from the U.S., Israel, or other Western entities. If that were so, there would be no reason whatsoever for jihad activity in Uzbekistan. "US Issues Uzbekistan Travel Warning," from VOA News, April 26:

The U.S. State Department has warned American citizens in Uzbekistan of the potential for terrorist attacks or localized civil disturbances, and urged them to exercise caution.

In a statement, it said the government is continuing to receive information that shows terrorist groups could be planning attacks against U.S. interests in Uzbekistan.

Among the groups mentioned in the release are the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Union, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement.

The groups have expressed anti-American sentiments and attacked U.S. government interests, including the U.S. embassy in Tashkent. In the past, these groups also have carried out kidnappings, assassinations, and suicide bombings....

"They claimed that the Christian is a missionary and has violated the law." Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Uzbekistan: "Tashkent, punishes those who lend or gift Bibles to children," from Asia News, April 16 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Tashkent (AsiaNews/F18) - Beatings and a strong penalty for the Christian Baptist Galina Shemetova from Tashkent who gave a Bible "for children" to a colleague. Meanwhile, the fear of the Jasmine Revolution sees authorities to harass three Muslim clerics.

In the summer of 2010 Shemetova gave the book to a colleague while they were at the Tashkent subway. For this she was denounced for "proselytism", which is considered a serious offense.

Later April 1, the woman on, went to hospital for treatment, saying she had an accident at work. A witness told Forum 18 agency that "the underground police hit the woman on the head and dragged her by the hair to their car". The local police, contacted by F18, denies any aggression, but recognizes that they stopped Shemetova who began to "call for help for no reason". They claimed that the Christian is a missionary and has violated the law. "

F18 found that there will be no investigations and recalls that the UN Committee against Torture denounces that violence and torture are "normal" in the country.

Also on 1 April, the Court of Tashkent ordered the Shemenova to pay a fine of 2,486,750 som, amounting to 1015 euro, 50 times the average monthly wage, saying she had made a clear attempt to proselytize.

The incident is not isolated. In the central region of Navoi , theBaptist Church Zarafshan, registered on August 15 decided to allocate 400 thousand som (160 euro) to the local children's home, called "Happiness." After that the Church sent its quarterly financial statement to authorities, on March 12 2011 the police raided its premises and the pastor received a written "warning" from the local prosecutor Khudayberdy Norkobilov for breach of an administrative rule, without any further explanation....

Big surprise here. "Kyrgyzstan: violence provoked by Islamic militants," from AP, June 24:

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyzstan's security agency claims relatives of the country's toppled president have colluded with Taliban and other Islamic militant movements to provoke ethnic violence in the ex-Soviet nation.

It's statement Thursday says former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's relatives met in Afghanistan last month with representatives of Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and other militant groups to discuss plans to trigger unrest in Kyrgyzstan. The agency alleges Bakiyev's clan promised to pay Islamic extremists to stir up violence....

A few years ago a prominent American moderate Muslim insisted to me that in Uzbekistan Islam was moderate, peaceful, and pluralistic. Islamic Tolerance Alert from Uzbekistan: "Uzbek authorities force Christians, including Jehovah's Witnesses, to go underground," from AsiaNews, June 21 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Tashkent (AsiaNews/F18) - "For more than a year our Church has been trying to establish" that the decision to strip us of our permit was illegal; however, "All the courts either say it is not within their competence or remain silent" on the matter, a member of Samarkand's Central Protestant Church told the Forum 18 news agency. This illustrates how Uzbek authorities pursue a systematic strategy to deny religious groups the permit they need to exist, and then use it as a pretext to crack down on believers.

Under Uzbek law, religious groups are required to register and obtain a permit to legally operate and organise. Without a registration, religious activity is strictly forbidden, even in the privacy of the home. Anyone caught engaged in illegal religious activity can expect hefty fines or even prison.

Local sources told Forum18 that on 27 March 2009, the Central Protestant Church in Samarkand was stripped of its permit on the pretext that where they met for years was a residential property, unfit to serve as a church....

According to Forum18, this is the seventh Protestant Church to lose its permit in four years at the hands of the Regional Justice Department in Samarkand. The others are the Samarkand Church, the Miral Church, the Seventh Day Adventist Congregation, the Esther Church, Grace Church and Namdemun Church.

Usually, new applications for registration have not been approved--a situation that has forced many groups to go underground. Case in point: the Samarkand's Greater Grace Church applied for registration in 2000, a request that is still pending. Since then, Church members have been intermittently harassed and fined.

Even registered Churches are concerned that the authorities might strip them of their permit on any pretext. On 16 May, police raided the Protestant Church of Christ in Tashkent and arrested six members, who were held in custody for 15 days. Now, Church members fear they might lose their permit to operate.

Forum18 has called on Uzbek authorities to explain the situation, but has not received an answer yet, other than suggestions that the news agency address its questions to some other office.

The situation for Jehovah's Witnesses is even worse. Of 30 communities that exist in the country, only one has been officially recognised, in the city of Chirchik, near Tashkent.

The abuse rained down heavier than usual after I posted this last Monday. How dare I support the brutal Karimov regime? (I don't.) How dare I say that the people who are revolting in Uzbekistan are jihadists? They're just reacting to years of oppression. All right. But this just came in from AP (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist). How to explain it? It is hard to get reliable information, but I suspect that jihadists are trying to co-opt the legitimate opposition to Karimov. That sort of thing has happened before.

May 18, 2005 - A Muslim rebel group claimed Wednesday it had seized control of a small Uzbek town on the border of Kyrgyzstan and vowed to build an Islamic state. Diplomats and U.N. officials toured a nearby city where government troops fired on demonstrators, reportedly killing hundreds.

The leader of the rebel group, Bakhtiyor Rakhimov, said his forces controlled Korasuv, a town of 20,000, and were ready to fight any government troops that came to crush his rebellion. An AP reporter in Korasuv saw no sign of government officials in the town.

"The town is in the hands of people. People are tired of slavery," Rakhimov told The Associated Press while leaning down from the back of a horse. "We will be building an Islamic state here in accordance with the Quran."

The group claimed to have 5,000 militants.

The government of President Islam Karimov quickly shrugged off Rakhimov's claims.

"It's all sheer nonsense, everything is normal there," Uzbek Interior Minister Zakir Almatov said when asked whether the government would move against the insurgents in Korasuv....

In my forthcoming book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades (Regnery) -- or whatever they're going to call it, as the artwork at Amazon shows a different title -- I discuss how the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzenes appealed to Muslims for help in a dynastic dispute. They came into Europe, and stayed there. John VI was not the first Christian ruler to make alliances with Muslims; nor was he the first to pay for doing so. But his alliance may have had the worst long-lasting effects.

Unfortunately, the short-sightedness of modern Western rulers makes them all liable to be the next John VI Cantacuzenes. The Uzbek jihadists are trying to cast Vladimir Putin in that role now. From Axis News (no direct link; scroll down) with thanks to M.A.:

Antigovernment riots continue in Andijan, one of the largest cities of Fergana Valley, situated in the eastern part of Uzbekistan. This outbreak started yesterday evening, provoked by followers of the Islamic sect "Aqramia". Last night there were several attacks on the military base, prison and the office of security services, that are situated inside the city and in its suburbs. Russian internet sites hostile to Uzbek government published the statement of rebels' leaders. It is said there: "We appeal to Russian leadership, and to Vladimir Putin personally, asking them to interfere in the situation. We ask Russia to be a mediator in our negotiations with the authorities".

An Update on the Muslim Riots in Uzbekistan from CBS News, "U.S. Ally Fires On Its People"

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan - President Islam Karimov claimed Saturday that authorities tried to negotiate a peaceful end to protests, but that troops were forced to open fire when insurgents who had seized a government building attempted to break through an advancing line of Uzbek police and soldiers.

He said 10 government troops and "many more" militants died in fighting Friday in the eastern city of Andijan. Relatives of the victims condemned the government, accusing troops of killing innocent civilians. Witnesses said 200 to 300 people were shot dead.

Soldiers loyal to Karimov, who has maintained tight control over this Central Asian nation, fired on thousands of demonstrators Friday to put down an uprising that began when armed men freed 2,000 inmates from prison, including suspects on trial for alleged Islamic extremism. The U.S. State Department expressed concern on Friday that members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is on the U.S. list of terrorist groups, were freed...

From AP via ABC News, "Violent Uprising Breaks Out in Uzbekistan"

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan -- Thousands of people, many of them armed, took to the streets of an eastern Uzbek city on Friday, demanding freedom for 23 prominent businessmen on trial for alleged ties to an Islamic terror group. The protest quickly turned violent, with nine people reported killed and dozens wounded in clashes with police.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov and other leaders immediately rushed to Andijan, where witnesses reported chaos in the streets and security forces firing in the air. The city 300 miles east of Tashkent near the Kyrgyz border has been the scene of growing unrest in recent weeks.

The Russian news agency ITAR-Tass agency said armed protesters surrounded police in two districts. Nine people were killed and more than 30 wounded, it said. In a sign of the seriousness of the situation, the government cut all foreign TV news programming, replacing them with Uzbek and foreign entertainment channels.

Tensions were also running high in the capital Tashkent, where police shot and killed a man they mistakenly thought was a suicide bomber outside the Israeli Embassy. The man was carrying wooden objects that appeared to be explosives, said a police official who wished to remain unnamed.

Both the Israeli and the U.S. embassies in Tashkent have been targeted by suicide bombers in the last year. The government blames Islamic extremists...

Witnesses said some of the protesters attacked a prison and freed its inmates. Atakhonjonov said he could not confirm reports that the crowd had attacked an army garrison as well...

Uzbekistan has been touted as a bastion of Muslim moderation, but evidently neither the US nor the Russian governments believe that is entirely true. From AFP:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Russia carried out a secret operation last week to remove weapons-grade uranium from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, whose government is facing growing Islamist unrest, said the Energy Department....

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Monday the one-day operation, implemented last Thursday, was crucial for enhancing international security.

"The recovery, return and eventual elimination of this highly-enriched uranium are an important milestone in our campaign to reduce this dangerous material worldwide," he said in a brief statement.

The operation targeted 11 kilograms (24.2 pounds) of enriched uranium fuel, including highly-enriched uranium that could be used for manufacturing nuclear weapons, that was brought to Uzbekistan during Soviet times, officials said.

Uzbekistan is reputed to be another beacon of Muslim moderation, but evidently that moderation doesn't extend to dhimmis who dare to proselytize. Question: if Islam is so certain of its superiority as the last and perfect revelation from the true God, correcting and abrogating all previous revelations, why is it so unsure of itself as not to allow competition in the marketplace of ideas? Why doesn't it have confidence that its superiority will shine forth by comparison with its competitors? Why is it so insecure that it must instead silence those competitors by force? From the Barnabas Fund:

Baptists in Urgench in the north-western Uzbek region of Khorezm face interrogations and abuse from authorities who are cracking down on Protestant Christians in what appears to be an attempt to halt the spread of Christianity in this Muslim majority ex-Soviet republic. At least two Baptist Christians have recently been interrogated by the Uzbek secret police, known as the NSS. Both had been intimidated and threatened with long prison sentences, reportedly in an attempt to ascertain the extent and nature of their links with western missions organisations.

According to Forum 18, on 25 June NSS Officer Alisher Khasanov is alleged to have said to one, a Christian woman named Sharovat Allamova, "You Protestants rely on western money. The humanitarian western missions who support you are basically espionage organisations. So you yourselves are agents for foreign intelligence services." On June 26 another Christian, Dilshod Dilbaev, was called in by Khasanov for interrogation about his links with missions organisations. Forum 18 reports that Dilbaev was hit by the NSS who also threatened to plant drugs on him.

Why the attacks? Because the regime is practicing "injustice and brutality" against devout Muslims -- here again, the core assumption is that devout Muslims will be on the side of the terrorists. From AP, :

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) -- A previously unknown Islamic group claimed responsibility Sunday for a recent string of bombings and shootings that killed at least 47 people in Uzbekistan.

In a statement posted on at least three militant Islamic Web sites, the Jihad Islamic Group said the attacks were launched in retaliation for the secular Uzbek regime's oppression of devout Muslims.

It was the first publicized claim of responsibility for the four days of explosions, suicide attacks and assaults on police that began March 28.

The attacks killed 10 police officers and four civilians. Thirty-three alleged terrorists were also killed in the attacks that Uzbek officials have blamed on international terrorists linked to al-Qaida.

"The Jihad Islamic Group is responsible for all the jihad operations that took place and are still going on in the Islamic state of Uzbekistan," the statement said.

"These operations came as a response to the injustice and brutality practiced by the infidel leaders in this country," the statement said.

Thousands of religious Uzbek Muslims have reportedly been jailed in recent years for practicing Islam outside government-sanctioned institutions, according to Uzbek and international human rights groups.

The statement from the Jihad Islamic Group said Muslims are "tortured and imprisoned as a way to terrorize and degrade them."

Uzbekistan's top prosecutor said Friday that the militants behind the attacks were taught by Arab al-Qaida instructors.

Kadyrov said 45 people had been arrested in connection with the attacks and nine more had been detained for questioning.

An Uzbek police officer in front of a mosque (Reuters)

More Uzbek jihad. From AP:

A woman blew herself up in Uzbekistan's central Bukhara region Thursday, killing a man and critically injuring herself, police said.

The blast occurred around 4 p.m. at a two-story apartment building, and police were investigating at the scene, said a duty officer in the Bukhara regional police department who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She said officials were looking at possible links to a string of attacks that have struck Uzbekistan over the past week. Police relased no other details.

The blast occurred in the same area as an explosion at an alleged terrorist bomb workshop that killed 10 people Sunday night. Days of violence followed.

On Thursday, an Uzbek anti-terror official said Thursday was linked to al-Qaida, the first time the Uzbek government has directly accused the terror network headed by Osama bin Laden.

Including the latest explosion, at least 44 people have died in attacks, mostly alleged terrorists.

Ilya Pyagay, the Interior Ministry's deputy anti-terrorism chief, said earlier that operations were continuing to capture suspected terrorists.

"These are Wahhabis who belong to one of the branches of the international al-Qaida terror group," Pyagay told The Associated Press, referring to the strict branch of Islam in which bin Laden was raised. "These are bandits who planned these attacks long in advance."

The unrest is the first to hit this Central Asian nation since it became the United States' key ally in the region after the Sept. 11 attacks. Hundreds of U.S. troops are housed at a military base near the Afghan border.