Government News: Top Stories

Uzbek revolt leader said to seek holy war
by Mansur Mirovalev

The Associated Press Translate This Article
24 September 2005

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) - One of the 15 men charged with launching a revolt to bring Islamic rule to Uzbekistan told a court in a trembling voice Friday that the alleged militants' jailed leader had issued a religious order for holy war against the government.

The former Soviet republic's authoritarian regime hopes the trial, now in its fourth day, will refute accusations that government troops fired on protesters in the eastern city of Andijan, killing hundreds, and support its contention that extremist Islamic groups from abroad encouraged it.

Ovozjon Turgunov, 31, who described himself as a member of a group of observant Muslim businessmen known as Akramia, said the group's founder Akram Yuldashev issued the fatwa for a jihad, or holy war.

Turgunov said his comrades described Yuldashev's order as ``taking up arms and overthrowing the government'' of President Islam Karimov.

The testimony echoed attempts by the government to portray the May 13 uprising as the work of Islamic militants. Confessions by the 15 defendants at the start of the trial Tuesday appear to have been carefully choreographed. Human rights groups allege the confessions were coerced through torture.

The uprising erupted when militants seized a prison and freed 23 businessmen who had been on trial accused of Islamic extremism. The attackers then seized a local administration building and about 70 hostages, as thousands of demonstrators gathered.

Human rights groups and refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan claimed that the revolt led to a brutal government crackdown that killed more than 700 people, mostly civilians shot while trying to flee the square.

The government of Karimov, whose rule goes back to the Soviet era, said 187 people died, mostly militants. The government's handling of the demonstrations has badly damaged its relations with the West as it has rebuffed pressure for an international inquiry.

Another defendant, 31 year-old Abdubois Ibragimov, appealed to his comrades who fled into exile to return to Uzbekistan and turn themselves in.

``I confess I've done so many bad things and I don't deserve to stay alive,'' he said.

Ibragimov burst into tears when he spoke of his family. He said his parents and six brothers had been members of Akramia.

Another defendant, Mukhammadshokir Ortykov, said that during the uprising, a soldier emerged from an armored personnel carrier and urged demonstrators to lay down their weapons.

The group's leader ordered the soldier to be shot, Ortykov said. He said they opened fire but many did not know how to handle weapons, killing demonstrators.

``I am guilty to God, my children and my future,'' he said.

He denied authorities had put any pressure on him during the investigation.

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