Kyrgyz Opposition Leaders Say Framed By Banned Islamist Party

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.