WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday called for calm to be restored in Uzbekistan, where President Islam Karimov resorted to using force to put down an uprising.
"We urge both the government and the demonstrators to exercise restraint at this time," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"We have had concerns about human rights in Uzbekistan, but we are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist organization that were freed from prison," he said.
"The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government. But that should come through peaceful means not through violence, and that's what our message is," McClellan declared.
Troops loyal to Karimov fired on protesters who had amassed at a square outside the regional government administration building in support of the insurgents. Some 50 people were killed and hundreds were wounded, according to unconfirmed reports.
It was one of the most serious crises to shake Uzbekistan -- which is run by an authoritarian government and hosts a major US air base used for operations in Afghanistan -- since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
05/13/2005 19:00 GMT