Uzbek leader: Kyrgyz unrest instigated from outside

Uzbek President Islam Karimov accused "outside" elements on Saturday of instigating a wave of unrest in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and said neither ethnic Uzbeks nor Kyrgyz were responsible for starting it.

"Neither Uzbeks nor Kyrgyz are to blame for this," Karimov was quoted as saying by the official Uza news agency. "These disruptive actions were organised and managed from outside." (Reuters)