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Americans in Uzbekistan warned
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Posted by: rtking

From CNN, Americans in Uzbekistan are warned not to travel to Andijan and that potential attacks against American interests may occur. Here's the story:

CNN: US warns Americans in Uzbekistan

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U.S. Warns Americans in Uzbekistan

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) - The United States warned its citizens Saturday of potential terror attacks against American targets in Uzbekistan following the recent deadly riots in the Central Asian nation - a U.S. ally in the war against terrorism.

The State Department urged Americans in the country to "exercise extreme caution, including avoiding large crowds, celebrations, and places where Westerners generally congregate.''

It cautioned U.S. citizens to limit unnecessary travel to the eastern city of Andijan, where the government said 173 people were killed when Uzbek troops put down a May 13 protest after militants seized a local prison and government headquarters.

The U.S. government has ``received information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks against U.S. interests in Uzbekistan in the near future,'' said the announcement posted on the U.S. Embassy Web site.

It said supporters of extremist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Group and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement remain active in the region and could attack Americans.

The announcement came after the State Department designated the Islamic Jihad Group a global terrorist organization, saying the group coordinated last year's bombings of the U.S. and Israeli embassies in the Uzbek capital and the Uzbek prosecutor general's office.

Those attacks, along with other scattered violence, killed more than 50 people in the spring and summer of 2004.

But the unrest in Andijan was far deadlier - the worst violence the nation has seen since gaining independence in the 1991 Soviet collapse.

On Friday, the Uzbek prosecutor's office announced the death toll from the Andijan riots reached 173 after four law enforcement workers died of their wounds. Authorities rejected rights activists claims that as many as 750 people were killed.

President Islam Karimov blamed the Andijan unrest on Islamic extremists, accusing them of killing hostages and using civilians as human shields during the violence.

He also dismissed claims from witnesses and rights activists that his troops fired on unarmed civilians and rejected U.N. and Western calls for an international inquiry, saying Uzbek authorities would conduct their own probe.

Uzbekistan is a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism and hosts a U.S. military base in the south used for operations in Afghanistan - a relationship putting Washington in an uncomfortable position following the events in Andijan.

The U.S. response to the violence was cautious at first, but after Britain and non-governmental organizations assailed Uzbekistan, Washington joined the criticism and urged Karimov's government to allow an international investigation.

Describing the Andijan unrest in Saturday's announcement, the State Department said ``fighting broke out between government forces and the militants'' and ``there were reports indicating that several hundred civilians died in the ensuing violence.''

There no reports of U.S. citizens being hurt in the clashes, it said.

While Andijan now is reportedly calm, the State Department advised Americans to limit unnecessary travel there ``due to small pockets of unrest.''

05/28/05 11:36