map
Our Affiliates
Listen In 28 LanguagesRFE/RL Radio
In 28 Languages

'Berlin Wall's Lessons For Today'

In an op-ed for "USA Today," Jeffrey Gedmin discusses RFE and the role of free media in societies living under repressive regimes. More
More Articles

News

Kyrgyz Opposition Leaders Say Framed By Banned Islamist Party

Bakyt Beshimov

January 02, 2009
BISHKEK -- Two opposition members of the Kyrgyz parliament say they have been invited to a foreign meeting with a banned Islamist group.

Bakyt Beshimov of the Social Democratic Party told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that he received an invitation on December 31 to a meeting abroad for the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which is banned in Kyrgyzstan. He said that the invitation was intended to hurt his political reputation.

Parliament deputy Roza Otunbaeva, also a Social Democrat and a former foreign minister, said she has received a similar invitation.

Hizb ut-Tahrir says its goal is the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia, though it rejects violence to achieve that aim. It is banned throughout the region.
TEXT SIZE - +

Editors' Picks

Follow Us On Twitter

Keep up-to-date on all the latest news from RFE/RL's broadcast region by following us on Twitter:
~ You can find our instant news feed at @RFE_RLNEWS.
~ An obsessive Kremlin watcher? Follow our blog at @PowerVertical.
~ Human rights abuses chronicled at @RightsWatchdog.
~ News, comment, and the odd silly dictator story at @TransmissionRFE.

Products and services:

RSSMail SubscriptionMobile