agrees to give its Chechnya region more autonomy.
President Islam Abduganievich Karimov (64) made the comments in an interview with BosNewsLife in Budapest, where he was due to leave Tuesday, October 29, following talks with government officials that focused on the troubled region.
There is concern among former Soviet republics in the proximity of Chechnya, after Chechen fighters stormed a Moscow theatre last week before being killed along with about 120 hostages, mainly due to gas poisoning, during a Russian rescue operation.
Karimov indicated he fears the conflict in Chechnya could spread to area’s outside the Russian federation. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin already threatened with a military strike against Georgia for not doing enough to prevent Chechen rebels of using its Pankisi Gorge region to prepare attacks against Russian troops or terrorist violence.
SHARING CHECHNYA’S CONCERN
However President Karimov told ANS that the only way more bloodshed can be avoided is when the concerns are met of the estimated 700,000 people living in Chechnya, many of whom are believed to seek independence from Russia. While he said it was unlikely that Russian troops would leave, Karimov made clear that a political solution should be found by Chechen and Russian leaders.
"I think that the future of the Russian troops are determined. And I think we have to make sure that this process continues without pain," he said. But Karimov added it is important that "Chechens will receive the same rights as other territorial formations are having in Russia," including autonomy. "Otherwise", he warned, "there will be no stability in Chechnya."
This seemed remarkable comments from Karimov, who has been criticized by Western institutions for his perceived lack of democratic credentials and manipulation of elections.
CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED
Several opposition activists were arrested in the nineties, and human rights organizations have complained about a crack-down against religious groups in the mainly Islamic republic of about 24 million people. Active Christians have also been persecuted under a highly restrictive religion law adopted in 1998, according to monitors.
Even on Tuesday, October 29, Keston News Service reported that leaders of the Protestant Mir (Peace) church in north west Uzbekistan were charged with "participation in the activity of illegal religious organizations" and face a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
Raised in a Soviet orphanage and following a study engineering and economics, Karimov came to power as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan in 1989 and was named president of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990.
He consolidated his grip on power in 1991, after Uzbekistan broke away from the Soviet Union. However Karimov kept close economic ties with Russia, and his country is part of what is now known as the Commonwealth of Independent States.
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
But the Uzbek president stressed he does not believe that Chechnya can break away from Russia as his country or Georgia did, more than a decade ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed.
"These are two different situations," he explained. "Uzbekistan was a Soviet republic, which was part of the Soviet Union." However he added that Uzbekistan "was never part of the territory of Russia, while Chechnya is part of Russian territory."
Chechen officials and other critics argue however that Chechnya was forced under Communism to become part of the Russian-led Soviet Union. Analysts point out that besides Russian pride, the Kremlin seems eager to keep Chechnya firmly under its control because of huge gas reserves and oil fields in nearby area’s.
"END BLOODSHED"
However the President of Uzbekistan and leaders of other republics apparently expect Moscow to do more to end the bloodshed in Chechnya, amid fears that the conflict there will engulf the entire region.
Karimov said he discussed his region’s needs with Government leaders during a three day visit to Hungary, which joined the NATO alliance in 1999 and hopes to become European Union member in 2004.
The Uzbek President sees Hungary as a strategic partner in Central Europe for military and political cooperation, and his and Hungarian delegations signed several bilateral agreements this week regarding investments, agriculture and transportation.
