Andijan

Media reports on the number killed vary from 9 (accepting the government's figure) to 300 (from local sources, BBC radio on Saturday morning). Around 15,000 people came out on the streets on Saturday, compared to about 3,000 before Friday when government forces opened fire on the crowd. The courage of these people is amazing.

Weasel words from the State Department. Can anyone tell me one thing, or at least ask the question: OK the US needed a base in Uzbekistan for its operation to get rid of the Taliban, but why does it need one now ?

Much media reporting and comment seems to go along with Karimov's designating of any opposition as 'Islamic extremists'.

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Browsed the Politics section of Ottakars (bookshop), which is arranged in alphabetical sequence by author. This is logical enough, but it means Pilger is next to Plato.