Uzbekistan May Crack Down on Aid Groups

Uzbekistan May Crack Down on Aid Groups

Friday January 28, 2005


By AZIZ NURITOV

Associated Press Writer

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) - Uzbekistan's president threatened on Friday to crack down on Western aid groups whom he accuses of engaging in opposition-oriented political activities in the tightly controlled ex-Soviet country.

``Examination of some Western aid groups has shown that their activity goes far beyond declared programs and it aims at certain goals,'' President Islam Karimov said in a speech to the new parliament, which was elected last month in voting that international observers said fell significantly short of democratic standards.

``We have enough power to curb the aid groups that violate our laws, I hope those sitting at the balcony understand that,'' he said, pointing at the loge where Western diplomats sit.

The Central Asian nation is an important ally of the United States in the anti-terrorism coalition, allowing a U.S. airbase on its territory, though Washington has cut aid to the country to underlines complaints over lack of democratic reforms.

Uzbekistan has long drawn international criticism for the lack of democratic reforms and poor human rights record. No opposition parties are officially recognized.

Last year, the Uzbek authorities accused U.S. aid groups of interfering in the country's internal affairs by helping banned opposition organizations, and they tightened restrictions on foreign aid groups shutting the office of American philanthropist George Soros' Open Society Institute for alleged anticonstitutional activity.

Since this winter's demonstrations in Ukraine, in which supporters of a Western-leaning reformer took to the streets to protest vote fraud, paving the way for his victory over a Kremlin-backed rival, Karimov and other autorcratic Central Asian leaders have appeared alarmed at the prospect of insurrection against their regimes.

Karimov expressed hope that the neighboring ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, which is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Feb. 27 and presidential election in October, will be able to avoid disturbances. Foreign diplomats have voiced hope that a more liberal Kyrgyzstan would be an example for other Central Asian states by holding the first peaceful transition of power.