The United States should end its use of a military base in Uzbekistan if the country’s authoritarian president does not agree to an international inquiry into the mid-May shooting of hundreds of unarmed protesters, the leading Uzbek opposition figure said during a visit to Washington.
“It is in the best interests of the United States to establish a true democracy in Uzbekistan, even at the expense of abandoning the military base,” said Muhammad Salih, president of the newly formed United Uzbek Democratic Coalition.
“We expect to see more pressure from the administration,” Mr. Salih said in an interview after a briefing at Radio Free Europe on Thursday.
The U.S. government has called for an independent investigation into the violent suppression of demonstrators in the eastern city of Andijan.
Thus far, Uzbek President Islam Karimov has refused.
Uzbek authorities have said that 176 persons were killed, most of whom were armed “terrorists,” while eyewitness accounts and reports by human rights organizations assert that 500 to 1,000 unarmed protesters were gunned down by security forces.
Mr. Salih said he hopes that the government “massacre” and subsequent crackdown on journalists and aid workers will encourage the White House to more forcefully support democratization efforts.
American insistence on an outside inquiry and a greater push for the legalization of opposition parties would help ensure the peaceful removal of the regime and lead to a democratic revolution as in Ukraine, Georgia and neighboring Kyrgyzstan, said Mr. Salih, who ran for president in 1991 and has been living in exile in Europe for more than a decade.
In recent weeks Mr. Karimov has restricted U.S. access to the Karshi-Khanabad air base, a facility near the Afghanistan border that has been critical to combating Taliban and al Qaeda forces and providing humanitarian assistance in the region, Pentagon officials said.
This has led to a fissure in Washington between those who would like President Bush to take a stronger stand against the human rights abuses of the Karimov regime and those who do not want to offend a key ally in the war on terrorism.
“We feel that continued engagement is an important element of supporting American values such as respect for human rights and support for democracy,” said Pentagon spokesman Joe Carpenter.
He added that by training Uzbek forces the United States military is providing an avenue to promote reforms.
Though the Bush administration has called for an investigation into the Andijan incident, it has been less vociferous in its criticism of the Uzbek government than European Union leaders, who will suspend a cooperation agreement with the country if Mr. Karimov does not reconsider his position.
“How long can we support such a leader without damaging our own interest,” asked Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican, during a hearing by the Helsinki Commission human rights panel on Wednesday. “Are we risking long-term loses for short-term gains? Are we strengthening terrorism or fighting it by aligning ourselves with Karimov?”
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