UZBEK ISLAMIC MILITANT SURFACES IN PESHAWAR?

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 002034 STATE FOR EUR/CEN AND DRL VIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE MOSOCWE FOR POL BENNETT E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/07 TAGS: KISL PINR PTER UZ PK SUBJECT: UZBEK ISLAMIC MILITANT SURFACES IN PESHAWAR? REF: TASHKENT 2018 ¶1. CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR ESCUDERO. REASON: 1.5 (B) AND (D). ¶2. (C) ACCORDING TO BBC CORRESPONDENT MONICA WHITLOCK (PLEASE PROTECT),UZBEK ISLAMIC MILITANT "TAKHIRJON" HAS SURFACED IN PESHAWAR. TAKHIRJON LED THE 1991 "ADOLAT" UPRISING WHICH BRIEFLY TOOK OVER THE HOKIMIATE OFFICES IN NAMANGAN CITY (IN THE FERGANA VALLEY),DEMANDING AN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC. THE DEMONSTRATION WAS BROKEN UP AND TAKHIRJON FLED TO AFGHANISTAN. OUR INFORMATION UNTIL NOW WAS THAT HE, WITH PERHAPS A FEW DOZEN TO A COUPLE HUNDRED FIGHTERS, WAS WITH THE TAJIK OPPOSITION IN AFGHANISTAN. ¶3. (C) THE SOURCE FOR THE INFORMATION THAT HE IS IN PESHAWAR IS HIS BROTHER, PRESUMABLY A RELIABLE ONE. THE BROTHER ALSO TOLD WHITLOCK THAT UZBEK POLICE HAVE ARRESTED TWO OF TAKHIRJON'S OTHER BROTHERS, ONE IN SAMARKAND AND THE SECOND IN NAMANGAN. NEITHER OF THE ARRESTED BROTHERS IS ISLAMICALLY ACTIVE, HE CLAIMED. ¶4. (C) WHITLOCK SAID SHE HAS HEARD THAT "JUMABOY NAMANGANI," TAKHIRJON'S DEPUTY COMMANDER, IS NOW IN TAVILDARA, TAJIKISTAN, WITH OPPOSITION WARLORD MIRZO RIO. SHE NOTED THAT THE BRITISH GOLD MINERS RECENTLY HELD HOSTAGE BY MIRZO RIO INITIALLY COMMENTED TO HER THAT THEY HAD BEEN SURPRISED BY THE NUMBER OF UZBEKS WITH THE WARLORD, BUT THEN REFUSED TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE ANY FURTHER. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: THE GOU'S LONG-STANDING FEAR OF ISLAMIC ACTIVISTS IS EXACERBATED BY ITS CONCERNS ABOUT THE TALIBAN ADVANCE IN AFGHANISTAN. IN A RECENT CONVERSATION WITH THE AMBASSADOR (REFTEL),PRESIDENT KARIMOV LINKED THE 1992 ADOLAT UPRISING WITH THE DANGER OF CREEPING ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM FROM AFGHANISTAN. THE ARREST OF TAKHIRJON'S RELATIVES IS ALMOST CERTAINLY LINKED TO THOSE SAME FEARS, EVEN THOUGH THE EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT THE ADOLAT LEADER'S LOYALTIES LIE MORE WITH THE TAJOPP AND AFGHAN TAJIK COMMANDER MASSOUD THAN WITH THE TALIBAN. ESCUDERO