The Scotsman – UK government under fire over aid to Uzbekistan : MINISTERS have come under fire for increasing financial aid payments to Uzbekistan despite the massacre of pro-democracy protesters by government forces in the Central Asian republic last month.
Forces loyal to Islam Karimov, the autocratic Uzbek president, last month shot and killed more than 200 civilian demonstrators in the Uzbek city of Andizhan. The killings have been condemned by human-rights groups and Western governments, including Britain’s.
Yet despite that condemnation, and the Uzbek regime’s refusal to allow an inquiry into the killings, the UK government appears to be stepping up development work in the region.