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EURASIA INSIGHT

KYRGYZ OFFICIAL RULES OUT UZBEK TRACE IN JOURNALIST’S MURDER
10/31/07
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from BBC Monitoring

Excerpt from report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Bishkek, 30 October: The Kyrgyz Ministry of Internal Affairs has denied reports on the involvement of representatives from the Uzbek security services in the murder of journalist Alisher Saipov in Osh (Kyrgyzstan’s south).

"There are no evidence and grounds to believe that the Uzbek security services are involved in the murder of Saipov," the head of the press service of Osh [Region’s] police directorate, Zamir Sydykov, told Interfax today, commenting on a statement by Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbay Bakir uulu on the involvement of the representatives of the Uzbek security services in the murder of the journalist. [Bakir uulu said last week that the Uzbek security services might be behind the murder of the journalist.]

"No such signs have been detected" during the process of carrying out operational and investigation measures, Sydykov stressed.

Besides this, "the investigation into the murder of Saipov is working on several versions, including a link [between the murder and] the journalist’s professional activities", the head of the press service added.

"Extensive information of different content has been collected. However, no reports will be released on the details of the investigation till the end of the process, with the exception of reports which are of public importance," Sydykov said.

[Passage omitted: a special commission has been set up; the journalists was shot dead on 24 October]

Editor�s Note: Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0721 gmt 30 Oct 07

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