WASHINGTON, May 14: The United States has urged the government and opposition forces in Uzbekistan to show restrain after dozens of people were killed in anti-government demonstrations this week. Uzbek President Islam Karimov is a US ally in the ‘war against terror’ and has hosted a US air base to support American military operations in Afghanistan. Mr Karimov is regarded as one of the harshest leaders in the former Soviet Union.

“The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government, but that should come through peaceful means, not through violence,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said: “While we have been very consistently critical of the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, we are very concerned about the outbreak of violence in Andijan.”

He expressed particular concern about “the escape of prisoners, including possibly members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,” which Washington considers a terrorist organization.

Among the escapees were 23 men on trial for alleged links to the outlawed Hizb-ut-Tahrir. All 23 are members of Akramia, a group named after Akram Yuldashev, a dissident sentenced in 1999 to 17 years in prison for allegedly urging the overthrow of Mr Karimov in a pamphlet. Akramis are considered the backbone of the small business community in Andijan, the town most affected by the violence.