Uzbek violence challenges leader's hard line

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting, which covered the trial, said the defendants denied all charges, including the very existence of Akramia.

"We were tormented morally and physically," IWPR quoted defendant Abdulbois Ibrahimov as saying in court last week. "Now we are charged with belonging to Akramia. Surely it's clear that Akramia is just a myth."

Hizb-ut-Tahrir was blamed for several deadly bombings in Tashkent last year, though the group denies any connection and says it renounces violence. On its website, it rejected allegations that it organized the uprising as "another futile attempt by a weak and ailing regime" to evade blame for its own failings.

Another potential threat is the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, with leaders trained in former Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, which is said to maintain strong underground cells throughout the country and whose fighters have cropped up in Chechnya and Pakistan. "If the regime crumbles, it's quite possible that Islamist elements will come to the fore in Uzbekistan," says Mr. Naumkin. "No one can imagine a liberal democracy of the Western type emerging there."

Andijon is just 24 miles from the Kyrgyz town of Osh, where the revolution that overthrew President Askar Akayev began. Experts say the pro-democracy uprisings around the former Soviet Union, most recently in Kyrgyzstan, may have helped spur Andijon residents to stand up to police and troops.

Another impulse may have come from President Bush, who hailed Georgia's Rose Revolution before cheering crowds in Tbilisi, and suggested its influence could reach more broadly: "Now, across the Caucasus, in Central Asia and in the broader Middle East, we see the same desire for liberty burning in the hearts of young people," Bush said. "They are demanding their freedom - and they will have it."

Uzbekistan has been a key antiterrorism ally of the United States since 9/11, and hosts a large US military base at Karshi-Khanabad, near the long border with Afghanistan. The US cut some military and economic aid last year to protest severe human rights abuses. But the US has also faced allegations that it has sent suspected terrorists to the country for interrogation.

The US, which enthusiastically greeted earlier revolts in post-Soviet Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, has reacted more cautiously to events in Uzbekistan.

"We have had concerns about human rights in Uzbekistan, but we are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist group that were freed from prison," in Andijon, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Russia regards the Karimov regime as one of its dwindling number of post-Soviet allies. News agencies said President Vladimir Putin spoke with Karimov Saturday to convey "serious concern" about the dangers of instability and Islamic resurgence in Central Asia. On Sunday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the situation was provoked by extremist groups similar to Afghanistan's Taliban.

The military blockaded Andijon for much of the weekend and few journalists were able to reach the scene. Reporters Without Borders charged that the government has jammed foreign news broadcasts. It was also impossible to access websites.

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