RFE/RL reports that Ikrom Yakubov, a former Uzbekistan National Security Service (SNB) agent, has arrived in London seeking asylum. Yakubov is 27, apparently has ten years of service in the SNB, including two years as a member of President Karimov’s National Security Council. He comes to London claiming:
- that Karimov directly ordered senior military leaders to fire on Andijon protesters in 2005, and that Uzbek troops under the command of Mahmud Khudoberdiev killed 1,500 people.
- that the Uzbek government orchestrates terrorist attacks in order to justify attacks on opponents and to win foreign support.
- that the government engineered the 2004 plane crash that killed a UN official, Richard Conroy.
- That Tohir Yo’ldosh of the IMU and Akrom Yo’ldosh of Akromiya are SNB creations. Oh, and the former Yo’ldosh killed Juma Namangani himself.
- that Mahmud Khudoberdiev is in charge of an elite guard unit that guards Karimov and his family and that said guard unit is in charge of ensuring that Gulnora takes power upon the death of her (possibly) leukemia-stricken father.
None of these allegations are new, and they are all within the realm of possibility. (That last one is new to me.) I’m very skeptical of at least parts of all the claims; Khudoberdiev is practically a flashing sign that reads “this story very well could be a load of b.s.”
The proof that Yakubov offers in the RFE/RL story all comes from conversations he said he had with security or military officials or from classified documents he said he has seen. Confirmation of his past in the SNB so far has only come from dissident Uzbek expatriates. Yakubov says that he does have some documents to back up some of his claims, however.
Yakubov says he spoke with the crash’s chief investigator, who said Conroy had information linking Uzbek authorities to drug trafficking.
He also says he has documents that back up that claim and also show that, through front companies, the Uzbek government is involved in trafficking women abroad for prostitution.
Hopefully these documents see the light of day.
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This is amazing. But as one with too much experience reading similar reports, what does Yakubov have to gain, besides a bounty put on his head and no hope of seeing his homeland again [or at least while Karimov lives]?
Thanks for the news break, Nathan!
It’s remarkable that Karimov has such a high level of trust in Khudoberdiev, a Lakay commander from Tajikistan who has been dead for seven years and an embarrassing miserable failure since 1998.
Yakubov has done a good job of recycling all the “funnest” bazaar mish-mish. If anybody believes all that Yakubov says then I’ve got a good source from Iraq who has in depth knowledge of Saddam’s WMD programs.
Would that person in Iraq happen to have information about the London Bridge? Because I’m bullish on purchasing rights.
You may have the London Bridge plus Juma Namangani’s all-female sniper brigade for one cheap price.
Rakhat Aliyev must be very jealous
Might want to be careful about dismissing all his allegations out of hand. I heard the number of 1500 Adijion deaths directly from a police officer who helped load bodies in a dumb truck. And as for Karimov and leukemia, I heard the same thing 2 years ago from a Uzbek who formerly worked in the SMB but now advises the US state department as a “researcher.”
So, while being sceptical of the whole package, down be quick to dismiss it all.
Just how dumb was the truck? And can you keep count if you’re manhandling 1500 corpses?
As far as the drug trafficking and prostitution rings, considering how powerful the security services are I think it would be very surprising if the government were NOT somehow complicit in it.
As far as being recruited to the SNB at an early age, has anyone considered if he has powerful family connections that got him his job so early? Does the SNB operate with such patronage, or is it much more professional than the regular police?
The few SNB people I met were all quite young, actually. But the Peace Corps gossip was that, yes, they had strong family ties. That being said, you needed a bit of intelligence, it seemed. The truly ignorant seemed doomed to become road police, immigration police, or [shudder] train conductors [provodniks].
It seemed similar for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, as far as rumors and hearsay go.
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