Lyndon has a fascinating translation of a Vremya Novostei story. Loads more is of course available at Scraps of Moscow.
There was another protest in front of the Uzbek embassy in Bishkek.
Meanwhile, Ferghana.ru reports a protest in Korasuv. They also have a story with an interesting angle on Bakhtiyor Rakhimov. He’s said to be a foul-mouthed hash smoker by acquaintances. Some speculate that all of his comments about religious law were all a setup by the government to convince the world that the unrest is really caused by Islamic militants. I suppose that’s possible, but not terribly likely.
Last night’s NewsHour featured a segment on Uzbekistan and included a discussion with Daniel Kimmage of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in my opinion, the best Central Asia reporter and analyst day-in, day-out) and Glen Howard, President of the Jamestown Foundation.
If you’ve wanted to know what Kazakhstan’s opinion, here’s what it thinks about US and Chinese reactions to Andijon. If I read it correctly, they think we are recklessly inviting chaos by calling for changes in the Uzbek government.
Roger McDermott has an interesting article on what Andijon may mean for US security assistance to Uzbekistan at EDM.
Somewhat related, General Abizaid has announced that the US is scaling back military operations in Uzbekistan because of the violence. He said the decision was not intended to be a political message, but it almost undoubtedly is and certainly will be taken as such.
See page two for news from yesterday’s CSCE hearing
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This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.