Iron Fist In Andijan

Some leaders sneak out of their country during an uprising; others become paralyzed by mass demonstrations. But when Uzbek oppositionists rose up in the eastern city of Andijan last week, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov sent in the armor. Communications with Andijan were cut; foreign TV news broadcasts to Uzbekistan, including from Russia, were replaced with light entertainment.

The insurrection started when a group of armed men raided a local military base for weapons, then hit the local jail. There they freed inmates, including 23 well-known local businessmen accused of belonging to Akromiya, an offshoot of the banned Islamist party Hizb ut Tahrir. The men, who denied charges of extremism, quickly emerged as leaders of the revolt. Addressing the nation Saturday, Karimov said the rebels were Islamic extremists. Ten policemen had been killed, while the “criminals” had suffered “many more” casualties, he added. Meanwhile, Saidjakhon Zainabitdinov, a lawyer and leader of a human-rights group in Andijan, told Time that “hundreds” of civilians had been killed. Several thousand more reportedly fled for the Kyrgyz border. The rebels denied they were fighting for an Islamic state. “I personally spoke to the leaders of the uprising,” says Daniil Kislov, the Moscow-based editor of fergana.ru, the one independent news source in the region. “They stress they are not radicals, and do not want an Islamic state. They want democracy, work and a normal life.”

The U.S. — which views Karimov as an ally in the war against terror and maintains a military base in Uzbekistan — expressed concern about the “terrorist group” that had broken out of Andijan prison. Few observers believe this is the end of the violence. Authoritarian regimes such as Karimov’s are less susceptible to unrest, says regional analyst Andrei Grozin: “But even if the authorities are able to crush the uprising in Andijan, the next upsurge could come in a month, or a year.”