Akramia was established by Akram Yuldashev, a teacher, and had split off from Hizbut Tahrir (HT). It proved very popular among educated youngsters in the Ferghana Valley and promoted honest, pious Islamic way of life and economic welfare .It emphasizes the Islamic tradition of zakat, with part of business profits being set aside to help the poor and the needy. Yuldashev was jailed in 1999.

HT claims that it does not promote armed jihad and has its main office in UK. USA had listed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as a terrorist organization (responsible for the 1999 bombings in Tashkent to assassinate Karimov) but not HT. However, in Uzbekistan, almost all opposition groups against the regime are considered terrorists .So Karimov has blamed HT for a series of bombings - which the group denies - as well as unspecified al-Qaida-connected organizations.

According to reports on 13 May protesters close to the 23 businessmen organized a commando raid to release them, and took over the local administration offices in the process killing many security personnel – Some protestors also demanded that Karimov to resign. The protesters claimed that the 23 would have been condemned, tortured and killed. The next day according to Galima Bukharbaeva of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a column of armored personnel carriers came out firing at the protesters without any provocation. As many as 500 were reportedly killed, including women and children, and more than 2,000 wounded. Another 200 were killed in a nearby town.

In 1989, a massacre was reported in Timisoara, a Romanian town that led to the overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu. First reports spoke of "3,000 to 4,000" dead; and then "12,000" and even "70,000". Only after the regime change the real number of dead turned out to less than 200. Four years after Milosevic went; on trial, a massacre at Racak in Kosovo in January 1999 - one of the main reasons for NATO's attack on Yugoslavia, has not been uncovered yet.

Eyewitness accounts said a mob of about 100 strong with automatic weapons, sniper sights and Makarov pistols shot dead all 52 guards, including two women operating the telephone system. The mob then left the jail and went to the military base in the town. There was a shootout and they took over the arsenal where there are 150 AK47s, and 300 RGD-5 grenades. They headed for the administration building, shot up the police and took the building.

Karimov's government said that 169 people died in the violence, including 32 government troops. It described the rest of the victims as armed Islamic extremists,

While the Uzbek accusations of Muslim terrorists might be exaggerated, one is not sure if they were not involved in Andijan. However, freeing prisoners and killing security personnel does need training, organization and encouragement from outside. Uzbek authorities alleged that HT cadres in Andijan were in touch with their leaders in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Of course, HT spokespersons in London routinely denied the charges.

Many Jihadis organizations, even Sikh militant ones were allowed to operate in UK, whose role remains questionable .USA trained and financed most of the Jihadis outfits in Afghanistan and gave them international exposure by bringing them to Albania and Kosovo to fight Russian ally Milosevich. USA has still not blacklisted many outfits, which organize terror in Kashmir and India. While it has blacklisted Marxist Kurdish Labor party (PKK) of Turkey, it has done little to eliminate it in north Iraq under its control, in spite of repeated promises to Turkey.

Therefore, the role of UK and USA remains ambivalent and not helpful where others are affected. USA under President Jimmy Carter had financed and supported anti regime elements in Afghanistan, even before the Soviet troops had entered Afghanistan. Catalogue of their actions to destabilize regimes in Latin America, not ruled by its puppets, is a legion. As for UK’s credibility, when twice Prime Minister Tony Blair went to Moscow before the invasion of Iraq, Russian leadership had told him in media conferences that UK’s WMD dossiers were not reliable.

Russian Reaction;

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared the Andijan uprising to a "Taliban-like provocation". He even said that foreign radical forces, particularly Taliban, were involved. He added that "I do not think any country will tolerate foreign forces seizing arms depots, staging violence, raiding administrative buildings and taking hostages on its territory."

Lavrov asked for a "thorough investigation" into who sent the group of gunmen into Andijan and why, as intelligence reports indicated, "Foreigners were among the gunmen". He even suggested that the UN Security Council's anti-terrorism committee, the CIS’s anti-terrorist committee and the SCO should all be involved in the investigation. He called for measures for calming the situation.

This writer who visited Andijan , apart from Bukhara ,Samarkand and Tashkent on a lecture tour  at their universities in end 1998  feels that Ferghana valley divided among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and adjoining Kazakhstan could become the explosive nerve center for Jihadis activities , if not contained by also looking into economic and social grievances. It could affect CARs, South Asia and Russia’s Muslim regions like Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Chuvashia, Udmurtia and other regions

New York’s Bukharan Jews support Karimov;

Curiously, majority of 40,000-strong Bukharan Jews in the New York, who immigrated in early 1990s maintained their support for Islam Karimov, Many said that the United States, should stand by Karimov otherwise Islamists might take over the country and persecute the estimated 30,000 to 50,000 Jews still there. However, they added that Karimov must allow more democracy and economic liberalization.

Rafael Nektalov, editor-in-chief of the community’s Bukharian Times, who was in Uzbekistan last week , said the Jews he met were calm and maintained staunch support for Karimov — a position he shared.  “I think the U.S. must support Karimov at this moment,” he said. “Do people who call for a new regime in Uzbekistan really think those who carried out the uprising and prison break in Andijan are humanitarians who would govern democratically if they ever take power?”

Nevertheless, some like David and Sarah Tamayev, disagreed. “We found that things were so bad economically in Bukhara that almost the entire male population of the city was away working in Russia in order to help their families survive,” “Karimov is guilty of creating a situation where people have nothing to eat. Karimov’s rule is good only for his relatives. The vast majority endure terrible poverty.” However, they agreed that if Karimov falls, there might be a takeover by Islamic extremists. “Perhaps the U.S. should not try to push Karimov out, but we certainly should be pressing him to reform the system and allow democracy.”