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News this day had much to do with the rapidly unfolding events around Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Soldiers opened fire on thousands of protesters in eastern Uzbekistan today and killed at least three after demonstrators stormed a jail to free 23 men accused of Islamic extremism, witnesses said. Demonstrators hit the ground. when the soldiers started shooting, outside the administration building. An Associated Press reporter saw 10 people who apparently had been hit, including at least one dead, and participants in the rally said two more had been killed. The shootings came amid violent protests over the trial of Islamic businessmen who supporters said were victims of religious repression by the authoritarian government.
As many as 50 people were killed by soldiers and police in earlier clashes, protest leader Kabuljon Parpiyev told The Associated Press, although other witnesses and officials said the death toll was at least nine and 34 were wounded. Uzbekistan is a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, providing an air base to support military operations in neighboring Afghanistan. But the closer ties with Washington have drawn increased international attention to widespread human rights abuses in the former Soviet republic, whose government is seen as one of the most repressive in the region.
President Islam Karimov and other top officials rushed to the eastern city of Andijan, where the government insisted it remained in control despite the chaos though it blocked foreign news reports for its domestic audience.
Here are two reports – the first: BBC Radio 4 news as part of The Today Program – The second: continuous news from Radio Mayak (in Russian, no translation – sorry) – a 14 minute clip with eyewitness accounts and commentary regarding the developing story in Uzbekistan as it was reported from Tashkent on May 13, 2005.
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Now back to the program.
