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NATO 'very worried' about Uzbekistan violence
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-19 20:35

ST GALLEN, Switzerland - NATO is "very worried" about the bloodshed in eastern Uzbekistan last week and would like to see free access to the region, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the alliance's secretary general said Thursday.

"It should be investigated, NATO is disturbed ... very worried about the situation and we will take our position as it further develops," De Hoop Scheffer told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference here. He did not elaborate.

The Uzbek government says 169 people were killed during last week's unrest in the town of Andizhan, most of them "bandits" who themselves had killed civilians and security officials.

But witnesses say up to 500 people, including women and children, were gunned down by security forces who opened fire on protesters last Friday.

Uzbekistan's government has taken foreign diplomats to the town but has not shown them the actual site of the killings.

"People should have free access to the region," De Hoop Scheffer said.

He also echoed calls by the United Nation's top human rights official who Wednesday urged an independent probe into the violence.

"It is important that there will be an investigation into what exactly happened in Andizhan," he said.

Uzbekistan cooperates with NATO through its participation in the Partnership for Peace program, a first stage toward possible NATO entry.

De Hoop Scheffer would not comment on whether NATO would downgrade relations with Uzbekistan, only saying: "Partnership for Peace comes with certain obligations that must be clear."

The killings have brought widespread international criticism of the Uzbek government which has been an ally in the U.S. war on terror and allows Washington to use an airbase for sorties into neighboring Afghanistan.

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