Article: Uzbek authorities fear ancient Fergana Valley is potential trouble spot

KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
04-21-2005
Dateline: MARGALLAN, Uzbekistan
Twenty-six police checkpoints dot the road connecting the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, with the Fergana Valley barely 300 kilometers (180 miles) away. They're a sign of the government's fear of the impoverished, ethnic patchwork of a region that could become a fulcrum of discontent and rebellion in formerly Soviet Central Asia.

The boundaries of the valley crisscross three countries _ Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On its southeast border is a fourth restless territory: China's Xinjiang province, where Uighur militants are demanding greater autonomy or outright independence from Beijing.

So ...

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