Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Is the “Islamic Movement of Turkestan” an Invention of the Uzbekistan SNB?

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Tohir Yoldoshev, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the alleged Islamic Movement of Turkestan

Makhmasaid Jurakulov, the head of the Department to Combat Organized Crime in Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, says just that. At a press conference on Monday in Dushanbe, Mr. Jurakulov noted that the Islamic Movement of Turkestan is a fictional invention created by the Uzbekistan SNB (Council of National Security) in order to suggest that this organization intends to re-establish a Turkestan and create problems for all countries in Central Asia, whereas its actual activities are only focused against the present leadership of Uzbekistan.”

While one might certainly question the reliability of a representative of the Tajikistan MVD focused on combating organized crime, Mr. Jurakulov’s assertion makes some sense. Various pundits of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) have suggested that the Islamic Movement of Turkestan (IMT), or the Islamic Movement of Central Asia (IMCA), organization was created at various times between 2001 and 2003 by Tohir Yoldoshev of the “Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan” (IMU) and that its goal is focused as much against U.S. interests and regional interests as against Uzbek interests. As such, the IMT/IMCA (at least as the supposed new incarnation of the IMU) has become a major target in the U.S. GWOT, a development that has directly benefited Karimov’s regime in Uzbekistan. Yet, there has not been a confirmed terrorist act in the Central Asian republics outside of Uzbekistan since 2001, and there is little evidence, save that provided by the Central Asian states, that any such regional terrorist network exists. There is little debate concerning the existence of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), and there is some evidence the IMU has broadened its focus since 2001 to include U.S. targets. This, however, has also developed out of a situation where the U.S. is targeting the IMU and where the U.S. has been actively supporting President Karimov’s regime in Uzbekistan (until recently). Most importantly, there does not seem to be any constituency for the IMU outside of Uzbeks. Jurakulov, for example, noted at the same press conference that 80% of the IMU’s members are Uzbek citizens, and while he does not state so, we can assume that most of the 20% others are ethnic Uzbeks residing in other countries.

Jurakulov’s proclamation, therefore, brings up serious questions about U.S. intelligence in Central Asia and our present focus on the region in relation to the GWOT. It is highly likely, for example, that both U.S. academics/pundits and U.S. intelligence agencies are far too trusting of the information they receive from Central Asian governments and their intelligence agencies. In a paper published in July of this year, Fredrick Starr of Johns Hopkins University and Zeyno Baran of the Nixon Center (on the basis of information from “Central Asian governments”), for example, have characterized the IMCA (their prefered name for the group) as follows: “this unified, militant Islamic force seeks to destabilize Central Asian governments by attacking American and Israeli targets; (its) main insurgent (sic) targets are the American bases in Uzbekistan (now closed) and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the embassies in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.” They also note that “while many other radical Islamist organizations have mushroomed in the region over the last two years, they can all be considered, in one way or another, to be under the IMCA umbrella.” Similarly, a paper written for the Jamestown Foundation in 2004 by a Russian journalist associated with Putin’s “United Russia” party (strange bedfellows) suggests that there is concrete proof that the IMU has morphed into the IMT/IMCA, an assertion earlier held by an “independent” expert on Eurasian and Russian affairs publishing in Fredrick Starr’s “Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst” in 2003. If the organization is indeed a fiction, one must question our reliance on such pundits and experts as reliable sources of analysis and policy advice on the region.

To the credit of U.S. intelligence agencies, they appear to hold at least some skepticism concerning the existence of the IMT/IMCA. Neither this organization nor its alleged Uyghur-based section the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have ever been placed on the U.S State Department’s official roster of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) (present list posted HERE). Nonetheless, the ETIM does remain on the U.S. State Department “Terrorist Exclusion List” of organizations, ties to which should exclude people from entering the United States of America, and the IMU retains a prominent place on the official FTO list, presumably due to the assertions that this organization is focused on more than just Uzbekistan.

Whether or not Mr. Jurakulov of Tajikistan’s MVD is a reliable source, the U.S. needs to review its position on terrorist organizations in Central Asia. We need to learn more about the IMU and determine whether the ETIM actually exists as a coherent and organized militant organization. We also need to determine if the IMU is truly a threat to the region of Central Asia and the U.S. more generally or only to Uzbekistan. In doing so, we need to rely on better sources than those originally emanating from the Central Asian government’s successor agencies to the Soviet KGB. We also need to hold those scholars informing U.S. policy to higher standards when they are making assertions about issues as important as the characteristics of Central Asian terrorist organizations. It must be remembered that one’s place in the new global hierarchy of the GWOT can be a matter of life and death for many people in the world today.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've spoken with British academics and government officials who all seem to concur that the IMU has ceased being a centralised outfit and now consists of a number of largely autonomous units more interested in gun-running and drug-smuggling. I don't think many people gave much credence to the notion that the IMU had reinvented itself as the IMT - maybe in name, but not in fact. Tohir Yuldashev and other assorted Uzbeks are hiding out in Waziristan, Pakistan; and there's allegedly a detention-camp stuffed full with IMU members in Iran, among whom is one of Babajanov's relatives ...

4:14 PM  
Blogger Sean R. Roberts, PhD said...

Nick,

I totally agree...BUT, I do not know if that extends to most people making policy, at least in the US (but maybe also in the EU). Note that the piece I reference by Fredrick Starr and Zeyno Baran was published July 2006 and was supposedly commissioned by the EU! If you click on the quote from it in the post, it will lead you to the PDF of the policy paper.

4:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aah, yes, I remember that report. I think it received a good kicking at Registan. The overstep the mark somewhat in urging the EU to bring up the issue of funding for Central Asian 'terrorism' in bilateral talks with ... the Arab states and Iran!

5:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are too many youung boys and girls are sent to midle easten and african countries to learn and to be tought islam; i am muslim and i love my faith but the kind of islam which is learnt and direction is taking by the young people is scary. its all about the physical aperiance of women, dress code, praying 5 times, but not the peace/SALAM vision which Islam or any other realigion have; not the reason and universe and human role in it etc; there is a big build up is going on. in 10-20 years if the brainwashing will go on in this direction some of us will be in real trouble. at the same time i am 100% against (hate it) of US/Bush type of interferance/intervention/interpretation of Islam and in Muslim countries. Thanks.

5:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is another link for a paper on IMU

www.uzland.info/imu.pdf

10:08 PM  
Blogger mcx tips said...

These latest incidents of serious human rights violations could complicate Uzbekistan's relations with the United States. The United States has allied itself closely with Uzbekistan in the war against terrorism, but U.S. government officials have expressed concern that Uzbekistan's harsh treatment of independent Muslims could be counterproductive to the anti-terror effort.Uzbek authorities, including numerous police officers, brought the body of Muzafar Avazov, to the family home at about 3:30 p.m. on August 8. Police cars surrounded the area and checked visitors who approached the house, preventing some from entering. When the burial occurred at 6:00 p.m. that evening, police closed the road to traffic.


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