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History of one attempt
Conspiracy to Kill Uzbek Opposition Leader
Turkistan Newsletter , 11 May 2001, 22:50:18
Todays BBC aired news that Uzbek president Islam Kerimov has ordered killing of his opponent Muhammet Salih. Salih exiled leader od Uzbekistans Erk democratic Party is living in Norway. Kerimov has promised an amount of 2 million Dollars for killing of Salih. After the new has been public Kerimov has dismissed Director of Uzbekistans Interpol brabch. Below is the statement of one of the involved persons.
STATEMENT
I, Bakhram Muminkhanov, born in 1958, a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan, state that I was an eyewitness to the preparations for a political assassination.
I hereby come forward as an eyewitness of this action.
In September of 1999 a group of Chechens came to my place and informed me that they knew Muhammad Salikh. This conversation of ours was heard by the MVD (=Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan). The MVD Minister of Uzbekistan colonel Almatov, MVD colonel Batir Tursunov, and Director of the Uzbek Branch of Interpol colonel Mahmud Hayitov asked me to organize a meeting with this Chechen group. I organized this meeting. During this meeting they offered US$ 2 million to physically annihilate the leader of the Uzbek opposition Muhammad Salikh. We, together with the Chechens, decided to warn (Muhammad Salikh) of the danger. When Muhammad Salikh learned about this, he asked us to accept this offer made by the MVD to murder him in order to expose the criminal intent of the regime of the Uzbek leader Karimov. Up to today, sufficient proof has been gathered to condemn and expose the crimnal essence of this regime. All my following statements will be made on the basis of these documents: I have audio and video tapes of my conversations with the Director of the Uzbek Branch of Interpol M. Hayitov, in which the Uzbek opposition leader Muhammad Salikh's assassination was openly ordered. I also am an eyewitness of the fact that on April 25th at 08:00 Tashkent time the minister of Internal Affairs Zakir Almatov, the head of the Uzbek Department of Struggle Against Terrorism colonel Batir Tursunov, and Director of the Uzbek Branch of Interpol Mahmud Hayitov were received by the president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at his residence, where they discussed this case. In September of 2000, the Chechen group was paid US $135,000 cash in order "to prepare" this action. The total payment for the assassination was to have been paid after liquidation of Muhammad Salikh. The subject of money was the main subject in my talks with Mahmud Hayitov by phone (which are taped), because this alone could reveal completely the hearts of my interlocutors. Because colonel Batir Tursunov and the Director of the Uzbek Branch of Interpol Mahmud Hayitov were to divide between themselves one million dollars out of the $ 2 million. In order to convince the Uzbek authorities, we asked Muhammad Salikh to hide himself for some weeks, and for his relatives to announce his disappearence. And this action was done in a very realistic manner. Those who ordered the assassination seemed to believe it. However, in order to pay the rest of he money, $ 1.870,000, Batir Tursunov and Mahmud Hayitov demanded an official identification of the corpse of the opposition leader and an official statement of the ERK Party by radio that the corpse of Muhammad Salikh was found in a certain place and so on. All these conversations were clearly audiotaped. On April 26, Batir Tursunov and Mahmud Hayitov ccompanied by one of the deputies of the Chairman of the SNB (National Security Service) arrived at my place in Moscow in order to discuss more thoroughly the "division of money". They were very interested in receiving the money (their share), and so they hurried me, (saying they wanted) a "declaration of identification" of the killed opposition leader as soon as possible. Since we couldn't do this, we had to halt the game as the blunt talks reached a climax. However, the materials gathered over these one and a half years are enough to unmask the terrible face of the anti-human regime of Karimov.
Bahram Muminkhanov
10.05.2001