Is Talk Of IMU Aimed At Courting Outsiders?
By Farangis Najibullah July 2, 2007 (RFE/RL) — Afghanistan’s National Security Directorate announced today that at least seven men with alleged connections to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) have been arrested in two northern provinces, Faryab and Jowzjan. The announcement is the latest warning of radical Islamist activity in Central and South Asia. In neighboring Tajikistan, authorities detained 10 suspected IMU members in late June as a trial there continued of 14 others facing similar allegations. Tajik and Uzbek defense officials warned last week of “increasing threats posed by terrorist and extremist groups” in Central Asia. But could the region’s leaders be inflating the threat posed by extremist groups in order to portray their countries as the front line against terrorism and boost their leverage ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)? Shady Past The IMU is regarded by U.S. and the members of the SCO as a terrorist group. Officials have in th
