ALMATY. April 23 (Interfax) - Police in Almaty have detained an Uzbek national who has been wanted for his alleged active involvement in what authorities in Uzbekistan call the terrorist acts and mass rioting in Andizhan of May 2005.
The man had approached a local UN office for a political asylum status for him and his family, Almaty police investigative department chief Vadim Streltsov said.
"All city police stations had received a description of this person. That is why we learnt immediately that he visited the UN office," Streltsov said.
According to Almaty police, the man "is charged with eight criminal counts under the [Uzbek] Criminal Code. "As a member of a religious extremist organization, he actively took part in organizing mass riots with the use of firearms, in terrorist acts in Andizhan, and in attacks on an Andizhan region police battalion in which large quantities of firearms were seized and people killed," police said in a statement.
According to police, the man entered Kazakhstan illegally and later found a job as a cook at a canteen at Almaty's central market.
The detainee is being held at a pre-trial detention center. His extradition to Uzbekistan is being considered, police said.