Uzbekistan rejects deaths probe

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has rejected requests for an international inquiry into a bloody crackdown in the town of Andijan last week, the UN says. UN human rights commissioner Louise Arbour said Mr Karimov had told the UN that letting diplomats and media visit Andijan on Wednesday was sufficient.

Uzbekistan says 169 people died, but an army source has said 500 protesters were gunned down by troops on Friday.

Troops on Thursday retook the border town of Korasuv, near Andijan.

A number of explosions and some gunfire was heard, but the takeover of the eastern town - where locals threw out their leaders following the events in Andijan - seemed to have been largely peaceful.

The uprising's leader in Korasuv, Bakhtior Rakhimov, who said he intended to build an Islamic state, has been arrested.

'No substitute'

In an interview with the BBC's Newshour programme, Mrs Arbour said that Mr Karimov had told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that allowing foreign envoys and reporters to Andijan was a sufficient measure.

But she said the brief and tightly-controlled visit was "not a substitute for a professional international fact-finding mission which can proceed with some independence".

"I just hope that the president of Uzbekistan can be persuaded that it is in the interests of his people, and of the international community, to let in a credible and transparent process," Mrs Arbour said.

However, she reacted with caution to a report that up to 1,000 civilians may have been killed in Andijan.

The claim was made in a joint statement by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.

But Mrs Arbour said: "At this point I have no independent access to information - that's precisely why I think we have to continue to press for a credible professional form of intervention."

Rising pressure

The local takeover of Korasuv on Saturday was triggered by the bloody crackdown of protesters in Andijan the day before.

The unrest began when a group of men stormed the town's prison and freed 23 businessmen accused of being Islamic extremists.

These men joined a large protest, which correspondents say was also fuelled by long-term frustration over poverty and unemployment.

Locals say troops then fired indiscriminately into the crowd.

The authorities say no civilians were killed, only Islamic militants who had organised the protest.

Mr Karimov's regime has come under increasing international pressure in the wake of the incident.

US Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan re-iterated American calls for "a more open and responsive government".

Both the UN and Britain have called for an inquiry into the incident.