Police and firefighters at the site of a bomb explosion in Khujand, Tajikistan, 3 September 2010 Firefighters are searching the rubble of the police building for missing officers
A suicide bomber has driven a car packed with explosives into a police office in Khujand, northern Tajikistan.
Twenty-five people, most of them police officers, were injured when the vehicle exploded at 0800 local time (0300 GMT), killing the bomber.
The blast destroyed parts of the police headquarters and shattered windows in surrounding buildings, officials said.
Several police officers are missing, feared dead in the rubble, AFP news agency reports.
Prison break
Khujand, a city of around 150,000 people, lies in a mountainous area about 340km (211 miles) north of the capital, Dushanbe.
The attack is the latest in a series of security breaches in the volatile republic, which shares a border with Afghanistan and is a conduit for smuggling Afghan opium.
The blast occurred just a day after President Emomali Rakhmon sacked his security chief following a prison break last month in which 25 al-Qaeda-linked militants escaped.
Tajikistan had a five-year civil war between its Moscow-backed government and Islamist-led opposition. The war ended in 1997
Uzbekistan bans 'pompous' breaking of Ramadan fast
TASHKENT — Uzbekistan has banned the public breaking of the daily Ramadan fast, an Uzbek cleric said Friday, after local Islamic religious authorities condemned "lavish" celebrations by rich believers.
A spokesman for the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan told AFP that iftar -- the traditional meal breaking the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- had become a way for rich people to show off.
"Over the past years we have noticed that iftars have become too lavish and pompous like wedding ceremonies mostly held by the wealthy and for the wealthy," Abdulaziz Mansur, the board's deputy chairman, told AFP.
"We have banned iftars at restaurants and wedding halls this year at the start of the Ramadan as an experiment and so far we have been receiving positive reactions," he said.
Uzbekistan, a majority-Muslim country bordering Afghanistan, has been accused by international human rights groups of keeping an overly firm grip on religious practices, a concern that this move is unlikely dispel.
The Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, a supervisory body instituted in Central Asia during the Soviet-era, is officially an independent body, but its decisions are seen as a rubber stamp for state religious policy.
The secular leadership in Tashkent has however defended its tough polices, citing a threat from Islamist extremist groups based in neighbouring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Abdulaziz denied allegations that Uzbek government officials were seeking to block religious gatherings during Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar.
"I myself visit iftars everyday. Usually hosts say they are happy to have imams and mullahs as guests at their homes rather than in restaurants," he said.
Uzbekistan celebrated its independence on September 1. But for many Uzbeks, independence is not to be confused with freedom.
President Islam Karimov, along with selected Uzbek officials and foreign diplomats and dignitaries, participated in official ceremonies on August 31. Those festivities, featuring a speech by Karimov and a cultural performance – were closed to the general public, due mainly to government security concerns. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archives].
For Tashkent residents, independence-day ceremonies can mean additional hassles, including heightened police security and cordoned-off streets. On September 1, many Tashkent residents tried to enjoy the holiday by heading to parks, where they could sample local delicacies – such as kurt, sour dried milk balls; or somsa, meat pies. Thousands of uniformed police and plainclothes officers were also on the streets, intent on enforcing an orderly Independence-Day celebration.
When a EurasiaNet.org correspondent photographed a makeshift vegetables bazaar in the Chilonzor neighborhood, a middle-aged woman chased him to establish whether he was sent to take photos by the police. “They have already [come to photograph us] and disrupted our trade eight times in the past few months,” she complained. “We decided to catch them and take off their trousers if they hassle us today on the holiday.”
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — A group of 25 Islamic militants serving time on terrorism charges have escaped from a prison in Tajikistan's capital after dramatic assaults that left at least five guards dead, the security services said Monday.
The escaped convicts include many members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan terrorist group, among them Russian and Afghan citizens, officials said.
The violent breakout from a prison run by the National State Security Committee in the capital, Dushanbe, has dealt the government an embarrassing blow after it claimed successes lately in a clampdown on alleged militant organizations.
The prisoners attacked their guards late Sunday, killing one and badly wounding two others, the security services said. They then grabbed a supply of weapons, changed into camouflage uniforms and fled.
Three hours later, at 1:10 a.m. local time, they attacked a nearby prison checkpoint, killing four guards, the security services said. They then drove off in vehicles, their direction and destination unknown.
President Emomali Rakhmon has ordered the Interior Ministry to boost the presence of armed police on roads and at airports and railway stations.
Impoverished Tajikistan, which shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan, has enjoyed relative stability since the end of a civil war in the 1990s that pitted a loose coalition of Islamic fighters and nationalists against elements of the former Soviet elite.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, or IMU, is a group that emerged in the 1990s and at its outset comprised militants mainly set on toppling the authoritarian regimes in the neighboring former Soviet states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Report Mutabar Tadjibayeva on 9th World Assembly CIVICUS (Montreal,20, 08, 2010)
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be here today and express my deep gratitude for every person and organization involved in my fate from the moment I was arrested, put in a long term jail, tortured and ill-treated for my activities struggling against dictatorships and severe human rights violations in Uzbekistan.
I was convicted by one of the world’s most repressive regimes, which is Uzbekistan, for my fight against it. The repressive regime unlawfully arrested me and deprived me of my freedom for many years. With help of kind people from all over the world I was rescued and again regained my liberty.
From the first days of my arrest I felt the support of the international community.
The efforts of international organization CIVICUS, which calls all to defend justice across the world, in freeing an unjustly convicted individual such as myself, are priceless!
From the first days of my arrest I felt the support of international society. When I knew that one group of activists in their International Assembly in Glasgow placed there my photo in specially allocated honorary place, and started campaign for my release I could not stop my tears. Today I have an opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to every person who fought for my freedom.
One million people caught up in Kyrgyz violence: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) - An estimated one million people have been affected by the violent conflict in Kyrgyzstan and need food and other aid supplies, U.N. officials said on Friday.
They include some 400,000 people left homeless after fleeing ethnic clashes in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad that erupted a week ago. Some 300,000 are displaced within Kyrgyzstan while another 100,000 people have crossed over into Uzbekistan.
"For the moment, we estimate that we will probably need to respond to the needs of more than one million people, displaced people, refugees and people in host families who have been affected by the conflict," Christiane Berthiaume, spokeswoman of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), told a news briefing.
"It is a planning figure, it could change," she said.
A U.N. emergency funding, to be issued later in the day in New York, is expected to seek more than $65 million to assist 1.1 million people in Kyrgyzstan for six months, according to U.N. sources. A separate appeal for Uzbekistan is planned soon.
The conflict has had "acute and pressing humanitarian consequences" in Kyrgyzstan, including on host families who have taken in people driven from their homes, they said.
At least 191 people have been killed since June 10 in southern Kyrgyzstan in clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, but interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva told a Russian newspaper interview published on Friday the toll could be 10 times higher.
On Saturday, the U.N. refugee agency plans to launch an airlift of tents and other emergency supplies into Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic with a population of 5.3 million.
Observing that the situation in Kyrgyzstan is tense especially along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, U.S. which is in touch with several countries in the region including Russia has said there is an emerging humanitarian crisis in this Central Asian republic.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake who is in the region, spoke with the Interim President Roza Otunbayeva to get updated on the current situation there and discussed efforts internationally to provide assistance to Kyrgyzstan.
Mr. Blake will be going to Tashkent today from where he will then travel down to the Fergana Valley to see firsthand the current situation involving individuals who have crossed over the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and evaluate directly the humanitarian situation there.
“We are in consultations with internationally and through the UN and Red Cross about potential offers of humanitarian assistance,” State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said.
At the direction of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Mr. Blake will be in Bishkek on Friday and Saturday for direct consultations with the Kyrgyz Government.
“Thus so far, we’ve provided just under a million dollars in humanitarian assistance in the form of medical emergency supplies, bandages, surgical instruments, and clothing. We’re prepared to airlift medicines as needed,” he said.
“We recognize that with various estimates of up to tens of thousands of people displaced on both sides of the Uzbek-Kyrgyzstan border, they’re going to have dramatic humanitarian needs in the very near term, and we’re in discussions as to how to best help them meet those needs,” Mr. Crowley said.
Human Rights Watch Calls for Justice in Uzbekistan
The is the fifth anniversary of a massacre of civilians in the town of Andijan, Uzbekistan when hundreds of people were killed by government forces. Human Rights Watch is calling on the UN and member nations to call for justice and a cessation of harassment of Uzbekistan citizens.
"Uzbek government forces killed hundreds of unarmed people who participated in the demonstration in Andijan on May 13, 2005. Protesters were ambushed by government forces and gunned down without warning as they ran from the square. While a small number of those fleeing were armed, government forces fired indiscriminately and made no apparent effort to refrain from using lethal force except in situations that were strictly unavoidable to protect lives, as required by international law. This stunning use of excessive force was documented by the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations." Human Rights Watch
Initially, the EU and US condemned the massacre of unarmed demonstrators, but that reaction has been muted recently while persecution of friends, family and children of people only suspected of participation in the demonstration five years ago has continued unabated.
Some Uzbeks fled the country after the killings, but those remaining have been harassed.
Persecution of Uzbek Citizens in Andijan
- threats to confiscate property of relatives of people who fled Uzbekistan
- torture and beating of citizens as young as 12 at the time of the massacre
- intimidation of elderly relatives with late night raids and searchin of houses
- teachers instructed to discriminate against children of those suspected of participating in the demonstration, calling them stupid, denying them advancement
- arbitrary arrests and imprisonment
- pressuring Andijan citizens to lure back those relatives that fled the country so they may be arrested
HRW Recommends
HRW is recommending that the human rights violations taking place in Uzbekistan be stopped and that the UN take action to remind the Uzbek government of its obligations to adhere to an acceptable code of conduct.
TASHKENT — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Saturday opened its annual meeting in Uzbekistan, a first for Central Asia and a coup in the ex-Soviet state's drive to be recognised as a regional economic power.
Some 3,000 participants -- including heads of state, central bank governors and finance ministers -- have flocked to the Uzbek capital Tashkent from among the development bank's 67 member nations.
While Asia's developing economies are well on the road to recovery from the effects of the global financial crisis, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters that serious obstacles remain to long-term sustainable growth.
"While many challenges remain, we believe that recovery has taken firm hold," he said.
"The big challenge now is to make the recovery sustainable over the long term.... Far too many of the region's people remain poor and without access to essential public services and economic opportunities," he added.
Kuroda also urged Beijing to loosen its grip on its currency, echoing comments made last month by ADB's China country director, saying a more flexible exchange rate would benefit China as well as the region.
International critics have accused China of keeping the yuan undervalued to give its exporters an advantage by making their products cheaper. Beijing counters that the policy is needed for its manufacturers' survival.
"I myself think that it is probably in the interest of the Chinese economy to make its currency more flexible," he said.
He added, however, that any shifts on its currency policy ultimately had to be decided upon in Beijing.
Although the annual meeting is the 43rd of its kind, it is the first to be held in ex-Soviet Central Asia, a major recipient of ADB investment in the nearly two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Inspired by national uprising resulting in the change of government in Kyrgyzstan, "The Independent's" Shaun Walker has suggested that the next "Stan" to blow up -- "and where if turmoil does come it is likely to be the bloodiest" -- is Uzbekistan.
His argument is essentially that many of the complaints that the Kyrgyz people have against ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiev are also on people's minds in Uzbekistan, only in an even more exaggerated form. The collapse of the Kyrgyz administration might therefore "put thoughts of revolution into the heads of Uzbeks," according to Walker:
"In Uzbekistan, a similar process has been under way. The president's daughter, Gulnara Karimova, is a glamorous, Harvard-educated socialite based in Geneva, and, according to Mr Murray and others, controls the regime's billions of dollars of assets through the Zeromax company. She has her own jewellery and fashion lines, and occasionally releases saccharine pop songs. She is also said to have provided the money for one of the regime's biggest vanity projects – the Bunyodkor football club, based in the capital Tashkent. The side, which plays in the obscure Uzbek League, has paid millions to lure stars such as the Brazilian Rivaldo to play for them, and last year recruited former Brazil and Chelsea boss Luis Felipe Scolari to manage the team, giving him the highest salary of any football manager in the world.
Amid all of this, ordinary Uzbeks live in crushing poverty, with no free press and in fear of the rapacious security services. The country's border with Kyrgyzstan has been shut off since the unrest began last week, and the Uzbek authorities have ensured that local media do not cover the uprising. Nevertheless, the fear for the Uzbek regime will be that news of the collapse of the Kyrgyz regime may put thoughts of revolution into the heads of Uzbeks."
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The United States made its first high-level contact with the interim government of Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, getting assurances that the new leadership would live up to previous agreements and allow American use of an airport that plays an important role in supplying the war effort in Afghanistan.
Demonstrators killed by Kyrgyz soldiers last week were given a hero's burial on Saturday at a memorial for victims of Stalin.
But a statement posted on the State Department Web site did not indicate how long the agreements were for, and the long-term prognosis for the use of the airport remains murky. Russia has bridled in the past at the American presence in a region it calls part of its zone of influence.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the transitional leader, Roza Otunbayeva, in Bishkek, the capital, late in the evening Saturday, according to the State Department and Ms. Otunbayeva’s chief of staff.
“Ms. Otunbayeva confirmed the Kyrgyz administration will abide by previous agreements” regarding the use of the Manas airport outside the capital, said Philip J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman, in a statement. He added that Mrs. Clinton was sending Robert O. Blake, an assistant secretary of state, to Kyrgyzstan.
The new government here, which took control after protesters stormed the presidential building early last week, also has been moving quickly to solidify its relations with Russia. About an hour before Mrs. Clinton called, the prime minister of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, put in a second courtesy call since the government was overthrown on Wednesday.
Any eclipsing of American influence here by a quick Russian embrace of the new government could prove troublesome for the United States’ military operations in Afghanistan.
Going postal: John Prescott promoting postal voting for council and European elections in 2004. Photograph: Dan Chung
In my diplomatic career, I spent a great deal of time assessing the democratic merit of elections in various countries abroad. That gives me a peculiar perspective in looking at elections in the UK, and wondering what a foreign observer would make of them. I can do this also with the insight of having twice run as an independent parliamentary candidate.
Against international standards, British elections leave a great deal to be desired. The first crucial failing is the lack of an independent administration of the elections. In each constituency, the election is not run by the Electoral Commission, but by the local authority. The national Electoral Commission has only an advisory role and cannot even monitor or instruct local returning officers. The returning officer is almost always the chief executive officer of the local authority.
The problem is that, de facto, those chief executives are party-political appointments. Particularly in the long-term New Labour rotten boroughs of the north, local government appointments are a New Labour nexus. Bluntly put, the New Labour council of a northern town is almost never going to appoint a Tory chief executive.
In fact, the lines between council appointments and party appointments are often blurred. Bill Taylor was Jack Straw's agent and full-time organiser in Blackburn in 2005. His pay came as a youth organiser for a neighbouring New Labour-controlled council. It would have been illegal for him to be thus employed by Blackburn itself and to campaign in the constituency. Reciprocal agreements between New Labour councils to provide full-time party staff – at the council taxpayer's expense – are not uncommon.
Откуда пошла узбекская нация Nasrullo Sayyid
Б.Мусаев: Вперед в Прошлое.
"Чигатой эл мени узбек демасун…" или к вопросу о поиске идентичности.
Вынесенные в заголовок слова, являются фрагментом... + Davomi
Inglizcha darslar
The letter that no one wants to readNasrullo Sayyid
To: 9th World Assembly of CIVICUS
(Montreal, 20-23 August 2010)
Ladies and Gentlemen!
My name is Nasrullo Sayyid. Initially I want to tell you why I am appealing to you. I came... + Davomi
Latifa zamoni
Названы самые репрессивные режимы планеты Nasrullo Sayyid
Международная организация Freedom House, занимающаяся мониторингом ситуации с правами человека и гражданскими свободами в мире, назвала десятку самых... + Davomi
English 
Б.Мусаев: Вперед в Прошлое.
"Чигатой эл мени узбек демасун…" или к вопросу о поиске идентичности.
Вынесенные в заголовок слова, являются фрагментом...
To: 9th World Assembly of CIVICUS
(Montreal, 20-23 August 2010)
Ladies and Gentlemen!
My name is Nasrullo Sayyid. Initially I want to tell you why I am appealing to you. I came...
Международная организация Freedom House, занимающаяся мониторингом ситуации с правами человека и гражданскими свободами в мире, назвала десятку самых...
Кореяда асли тошкентлик фирибгар қўлга олинди
Корея оммавий ахборот воситаларининг хабар қилишича, асли тошкентлик бўлган Владимир Цой Кореяга келганидан сўнг қисқа...