Reuters AlertNet Lite - U.S. urges Kyrgyzstan to solve reporter's murder

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U.S. urges Kyrgyzstan to solve reporter's murder

25 Oct 2007 19:15:02 GMT
Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday called on Kyrgyzstan to defend media freedom and solve the murder of an independent Uzbek reporter who was killed on Wednesday in a Kyrgyz city.

Alisher Saipov, an ethnic Uzbek with Kyrgyz citizenship, was shot twice in the chest and once in the head in the centre of Osh, a city on the border with Uzbekistan.

"We urge an immediate and thorough investigation into this terrible act," the U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan said in a statement on its Web site.

Saipov, 26, had worked for the U.S.-funded Voice of America and for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

"Journalists and their independent reporting are the bedrock of a free and open society, and any attempt to intimidate them or silence their voices cannot be tolerated," the embassy said.

Kyrgyzstan is a small, impoverished, mountainous country that occupies a strategically important position between China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The United States has an air base outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

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Last updated:Thu Oct 25 19:14:25 2007