By Oskar von Schreeb (6/13/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

EXILES: UZBEK IMAM'S SHOOTING POLITICAL

May 31

Uzbeks living in Sweden say they believe the February shooting of a well-known Islamic cleric was a political act perpetrated by the Tashkent regime. Imam Obid Nazarov, considered one of the most powerful opponents of the regime of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, was in a coma this week after being shot in the head Feb. 22 in the northern Sweden city of Stromsund.

By Alima Bissenova (3/21/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

OSCE urges tajiks to end shutdown of facebook, sites 8 March The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has urged Tajikistan to end a local shutdown of Facebook and several Russian-language sites that had published material critical of the nation's veteran leader. President Imomali Rakhmon, a former head of a Soviet state farm, has ruled this Muslim Central Asian nation of 7.5 million people with a firm hand since 1992.

By Alima Bissenova (11/16/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kazakhstan to export 2.5 mln tones of grain through Black, Baltic Seas this year 3 November Kazakhstan may export 2.5 million tonnes of grain through the Black and the Baltic Seas this marketing year (July 2011-June 2012), the country's Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said.