From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Thu Aug 10 2000 - 10:23:22 EDT
RUSSIA READY TO CONSIDER GIVING MILITARY HELP TO UZBEKISTAN
MOSCOW. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Russia is prepared to consider the
possibility of giving military assistance to Uzbekistan, which has been
invaded by Muslim extremists.
"If such request arrives from Uzbekistan, we will by all means
consider it," First Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff Col. Gen.
Valery Manilov told Interfax on Thursday. The Uzbek government has not
yet made such a request, he said.
Manilov said he believes that the exacerbation of situations in
various regions and "hot spots" is directly interconnected. "Uzbekistan,
Chechnya, the Balkans, the terrorist act in Moscow - all these things
are links of the same chain," he said.
At the beginning of this week the Uzbek governmental forces stepped
up an operation aimed at destroying the Muslim extremists that have
entered the republic. According to military sources, the extremists are
about 100-strong and were trained in camps in Afghanistan. They are
well-equipped, have modern weapons, including sniper's guns, night
vision devices and grenade launchers. The extremists have consolidated
their positions in the mountains of Uzbekistan's Surkhan-Darya district.
|
