Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia - more than three months after Uzbek security forces violently suppressed protests in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan - the US re-iterated its calls for an independent international probe into what happened. "We've been very clear that the Uzbek government needs to let in an international team, needs to be fully transparent in investigating and allowing an international investigation of what happened at Andijan," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday. "We continue to call for them to allow an international investigation," he said, noting they had yet to receive a positive response. Rights activists say upwards of 1,000, mainly unarmed civilians, could have been killed in Andijan in May when security forces opened fire indiscriminately on thousands of demonstrators. Tashkent said the death toll was 187. In Kyrgyzstan, a decision on the plight of 15 Uzbek asylum seekers who fled violence in Andijan and who have been held in custody in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh since May would be made within 10 days, the national news agency Kabar reported on Thursday. Azimbek Beknazarov, Kyrgyzstan's prosecutor general, said that his office was currently conducting an additional check of documents presented by the Uzbek law-enforcement agencies, who accuse those being detained of committing grave crimes and want them extradited to Uzbekistan. Hundreds of Uzbeks fled across the border to Kyrgyzstan in May, following the events in Andijan. Almost 440 of the registered Uzbeks staying in Kyrgyzstan who were granted refugee status by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were airlifted to Romania to await third country resettlement in late July, while the Andijan 15 remained in custody awaiting a decision by the Kyrgyz authorities. In Kazakhstan, three anthrax cases were confirmed in the west of Central Asia's largest country, the Kazakh Interfax-Kazakshtan news agency reported on Saturday. Bacteriological examination confirmed a preliminary diagnosis of anthrax in three residents of the village of Talovka in the western Zhanibek district who had been hospitalised on suspicion of having contracted the infection, according to the regional epidemiological control department. Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. While anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes and other herbivores. It can also occur in humans when they are exposed to the tissue of infected animals and can be fatal if left untreated. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sporadic cases occur in animals worldwide and there are occasional outbreaks in Central Asia. In Tajikistan, the trial of an opposition leader continued this week, the Tajik Asia-Plus news agency reported on Wednesday. The trial of Makhmadruzi Iskandarov, the leader of Tajikistan's Democratic Party (DP), started in early August. He is charged with terrorism and attempted murder in a case his supporters claim is politically motivated. Prosecutors at the Supreme Court also accused Iskandarov of illegal arms possession, abuse of office and the theft of state funds. His party says the charges are part of an effort by President Emomali Rahmonov's government to eliminate political rivals before next year's presidential elections. Iskandarov, who intended to run, disappeared during a trip to Moscow in April. Shortly after, Tajik authorities said Iskandarov was under arrest in Tajikistan, but his lawyers maintain he was kidnapped and forcibly flown to the former Soviet republic. The US had earlier voiced concern that Iskandarov was denied regular and free access to his lawyers after his arrest and has called for a fair trial.