Islamic leader announces rebellion in Uzbek town
The call came as diplomats and UN officials toured the city of Andijan under government escort to investigate accounts of recent bloodshed.
President Islam Karimov's government shrugged off Bakhtiyor Rakhimov's claims as "nonsense", but the rebel leader said his forces controlled Korasuv, a town of 20,000 on the Kyrgyz border, and were ready to fight any government troops that came to crush his rebellion. It is unclear how many people Rakhimov commands.
