MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov told a press conference here on Friday that an outbreak of unrest in Uzbekistan was a domestic matter and that the situation there was stabilizing.
"It`s an internal affair for Uzbekistan," said Lavrov of the unrest that has left nine dead and led to a mass jail break of 2,000 prisoners at the city of Andijan, where a trial of Islamic militants was being held.
"We are following the news and the latest information we have suggests the situation is stabilizing," said Lavrov of the former Soviet Republic which borders Afghanistan and which has been independent since 1991.
"We trust that order will be established swiftly," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency, adding that Moscow was "concerned" about the situation.
05/13/2005 11:39 GMT