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Uzbekistan

CSTO to help Uzbekistan fight extremists

MOSCOW, Jun 22, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will help Uzbekistan combat extremist forces, which instigated the unrest in its eastern town of Andijan last month, Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov said Wednesday.

"Our meeting decided to help Uzbekistan in strengthening its capabilities to combat extremists," Ivanov told the Itar-Tass news agency after chairing a meeting of CSTO security council secretaries.

"We support the Uzbek leadership's efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in the Andijan region," Ivanov said.

"It is obvious ... that the Andijan events were provoked by extremist forces, including those from abroad," Ivanov said.

The Uzbek Prosecutor General's Office has said 173 people were killed in the violence that gripped Andijan last month when protesters attacked government buildings, sprung inmates from a prison and clashed with security forces.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said CSTO members will not meddle in the internal affairs of Uzbekistan, the Interfax news agency reported.

"Uzbekistan is not a CSTO member, and we don't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," Lavrov told a press conference after CSTO foreign ministers meeting.

The CSTO comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia.