Islamists Arrested In Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan

The crackdown on members of Hizb ut-Tahrir inflamed passions in southern Kyrgyzstan when Rafiq Qori Kamoluddin, an imam who allowed members of Hizb ut-Tahrir within his mosque, was killed by security forces in the Kyrgyz town of Karu-Suu (RFE/RL) August 23, 2006 - Security officials in Uzbekistan's Ferghana Valley say they have arrested an alleged leader of a banned radical Islamic grouping, Hizb ut-Tahrir.

They say the man, identified as Abdurahim Tuhtasinov, was detained in the eastern city of Namangan and sent to Tashkent under police escort.

In neighboring Kyrgyzstan, authorities say a member of yet another banned group, Akromiya, was arrested on August 22 in the southern region of Osh.

Regional police say Qurbanali Sabirov, an ethnic Uzbek, was found in possession of weapons, ammunitions, and religious literature.

They also say Sabirov and his brother Muydin, who was arrested last year in Uzbekistan, are suspected of taking an active part in antigovernment protests in the Uzbek city of Andijon in May 2005. The unrest led to a government crackdown in which Tashkent acknowledges 187 people were killed. Independent observers put the number of casualties significantly higher.

(gorizont.uz, AKIpress)