JAN. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – At the staged welcome for Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels on Jan. 24, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso looked unusually tense.

Television pictures showed the normally urbane Portuguese striding in slightly ahead of Mr Karimov, rushing a handshake and then shuffling quickly out, having barely cast a glance at his guest.

The EU and NATO want to talk about trade and military matters with Mr Karimov but he is a controversial guest. In May 2005, Uzbek security forces shot dead hundreds of protesters in the town of Andijan in the east of the country. Officially, 189 protesters died after Islam extremists instigated violence but human rights groups say that between 700 and 1,000 people were killed.

The EU imposed sanctions and pushed Uzbekistan to hold an inquiry. It suspended visas for 12 top officials and established an arms embargo. But there was no inquiry and by 2009 the sanctions had been lifted. Human rights groups also allege other systematic abuses in Uzbekistan including torture, the use of child labour and the imprisonment of activists and journalists.

During Mr Karimov’s visit, the EU and NATO have promised to raise human rights questions but they also insist they are being balanced and pragmatic. Uzbekistan has become an important stage post for supplies to NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan and it holds large gas supplies which the EU hopes to tap into one day.

The US-based Human Rights Watch instead described the EU’s attitude towards Uzbekistan as obsequious.Certainly, Mr Barroso looked sheepish.

JAN. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek President Islam Karimov visited Brussels to meet the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Human rights groups said it was disgraceful to welcome Mr Karimov who is accused of ordering his security forces to shoot dead hundreds of protesters in 2005.