U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 - Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan in 2004 remained a dependable and outspoken ally in the global war on terrorism, taking political, legislative, and law enforcement initiatives to disrupt and deter terrorism.

Kyrgyzstan suffered a deadly act of terrorism in 2004. An explosion in the southern city of Osh in November killed one police officer and one suspected terrorist. The Ministry of Interior announced in December that it would open a temporary antiterrorism center in Osh. In December the Kyrgyz Parliament began consideration of a law on terrorism financing that, if passed, will considerably strengthen Kyrgyzstani efforts in this area. In April, Kyrgyzstan added Hizb ut-Tahrir to the list of banned religious extremist groups, though members are typically only arrested for distributing literature that "incites religious, ethnic or racial hatred." Several thousand members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an extremist political movement advocating establishment of a borderless, theocratic caliphate throughout the entire Muslim world, are present in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as well as in countries outside the Central Asian region. Hizb ut-Tahrir pamphlets, filled with anti-US propaganda, have been distributed throughout the southern region of the country and even appeared in Bishkek and other parts of the north. The US Government has no evidence that Hizb ut-Tahrir has committed any terrorist acts, but the group's radical, anti-US and anti-Semitic ideology is sympathetic to acts of violence against the United States and its allies, and it has publicly called on Muslims to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight Coalition forces.

Kyrgyzstan's military and internal forces worked to improve their counterterrorism capabilities and to expand their cooperation with regional partners in 2004. The Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Kazakh Border Services held joint exercises along their common borders in June to improve regional cooperation against terrorists. In July, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan held joint military counterterrorism exercises in Kyrgyzstan. In April, the National Border Service opened an Interagency Training Center, which will focus on training to fight illegal migration and terrorism. Kyrgyzstan and China signed a bilateral agreement in September on cooperation against terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

Kyrgyzstan hosts a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) counterterrorism center in its capital, Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan, along with China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which established a Regional Antiterrorism Center in Tashkent in June. In October, Kyrgyzstan, along with Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Russia, formed the Eurasia Group, a regional anti-money laundering organization or Financial Action Task Force-style regional body.