Tashkent Praises Moscow For Deporting Alleged Uzbek Radicals

President Islam Karimov pictured during a press conference after the government crackdown in Andijon (epa) August 9, 2006 -- The Prosecutor-General's Office in Tashkent today welcomed a decision by its Russian counterpart to deport to Uzbekistan one Kyrgyz and 12 Uzbek citizens allegedly involved in last year's Andijon uprising.

The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office made its decision public on August 3, saying it had received assurances from Uzbek authorities that the deportees would not be tortured or executed.

The 13 were arrested in Russia's central city of Ivanovo in June 2005 and have been held in custody there ever since.

In a statement today, the Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office accuses all of them of belonging to Akramiya, an organization it says is linked to the banned religious group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The statement also says the Ivanovo detainees are suspected of funding and planning the Andijon uprising.

Human rights activists in Russia have denied the accusations made by Uzbekistan.

(press-uz.info)