Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged an Uzbek parliamentary panel to investigate this month’s violence in Andijan, including the alleged role of outside forces, but declined to comment on calls for an international probe.

Uzbek officials took foreign diplomats and journalists on a lightning-quick tour of Andijan today, showing them a prison and the local administration building and arranging meetings with local officials, as the top UN human rights official called for an independent investigation.

UZBEKISTAN’S top prosecutor said yesterday that 169 people had been killed in violence in the eastern town of Andijan, including more than 50 foreign fighters.