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Uzbekistan tells Pakistan to extradite Uzbek prisoners
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Mar 24: Uzbekistan has demanded the extradition of any of its citizens caught among the suspected terrorists surrounded by soldiers in Pakistan, the country`s president said.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Mar 24: Uzbekistan has demanded the extradition of any of its citizens caught among the suspected terrorists surrounded by soldiers in Pakistan, the country's president said.
The government has given the Pakistani Embassy a statement declaring that any Uzbek citizens taken prisoner must be handed over to Uzbekistan's justice department -which is an "international norm" -President Islam Karimov said at a press conference.
Officials at the Pakistani Embassy in the capital, Tashkent, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Pakistan's army is fighting several hundred foreign militants and local tribesmen in a lawless Pakistani tribal region believed to be a refuge of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group seeking to overthrow the Central Asian nation's secular government.
Security officials say prisoners taken in the area include Uzbeks as well as Pakistanis, Arabs, Chechens and ethnic Uighurs from China's predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province. The Pakistani military believes a "high-value" target is in the besieged area -but it is uncertain if it's al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahri, Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldash, or someone else. "Yuldash...is a criminal like many others who must appear before the court," Karimov said. Yuldash is the IMU's political leader.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has kept a low profile since late 2001, when the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance routed it from a base in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.
Bureau Report
Officials at the Pakistani Embassy in the capital, Tashkent, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Pakistan's army is fighting several hundred foreign militants and local tribesmen in a lawless Pakistani tribal region believed to be a refuge of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group seeking to overthrow the Central Asian nation's secular government.
Security officials say prisoners taken in the area include Uzbeks as well as Pakistanis, Arabs, Chechens and ethnic Uighurs from China's predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province. The Pakistani military believes a "high-value" target is in the besieged area -but it is uncertain if it's al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahri, Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldash, or someone else. "Yuldash...is a criminal like many others who must appear before the court," Karimov said. Yuldash is the IMU's political leader.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has kept a low profile since late 2001, when the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance routed it from a base in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.
Bureau Report