Straw heads to US for Uzbekistan talks
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is flying to Washington for talks on the civil unrest in the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan.
He is expected to raise concerns over the killing of hundreds of Uzbek civilians by government troops last week with the US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mr Straw said the troops’ actions in opening fire on civilians in the town of Andijan, which eyewitnesses say has left 500 dead, “plainly cannot be justified”.
The US views Uzbekistan as a key ally in the war against terrorism, and its reaction to the unrest was initially more muted.
But Dr Rice has since said that the former Soviet republic was “politically too closed”.
At the weekend Mr Straw said: “The UK has consistently made clear to the authorities in Uzbekistan that the repression of dissent and discontent is wrong and they urgently need to deal with patent failings in respect of human and civil rights.”
The Foreign Secretary and US Secretary of State are also expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme and Iraq.
