Uzbek leader Karimov says Andijan uprising was planned abroad

1. Wide shot residence of Russian president Vladimir Putin outside Moscow
2. Uzbek and Russian flags
3. Wide shot Putin and Uzbek president Islam Karimov enter room, shake hands
4. Cutaway cameras
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Islam Karimov, Uzbek president:
"This time the script writers and directors behind these events used radical, religious, extremist forces that once upon a time were called by these directors as terrorists, who were fought against in Afghanistan and are now being fought against in Iraq."
6. Putin listening
7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Islam Karimov, Uzbek president:
"We have information and people who are now testifying, who were trained outside of Uzbekistan. These people will come out tomorrow and people will be able to see for themselves. They were thoroughly prepared at training fields, trained to use machine guns and rocket launchers. Of course, there were people prepared in Uzbekistan who were supposed to join them after a signal had been given."
8. Cutaway journalists
9. Close up notepad
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"I would like to offer my condolences to all those killed and their families. But, as you know, we had information about infiltration by militants from Afghanistan. We informed our colleagues in all the countries where they concentrated, but I am not sure to what extent this information was conveyed to you in time."
12. Wide shot talks

STORYLINE:

Uzbek president Islam Karimov said on Tuesday that the violently suppressed May uprising in his Central Asian nation was planned from abroad.

Speaking during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Karimov said "we have enough facts to prove that the operation was prepared several months and perhaps several years in advance from outside Uzbekistan".

The meeting at Putin's residence outside Moscow took place during the authoritarian leader's second foreign trip following the May government crackdown on protesters in eastern Uzbekistan.

The first was to Beijing.

Moscow has steadfastly backed Karimov in his rejection of international demands for an independent investigation into the suppression of the uprising in Andijan, in which rights activists say government troops killed up to 750 people.

Uzbek authorities deny that troops fired on unarmed civilians and put the death toll at 176.

They have blamed the violence on Islamic militants intent on destabilising Uzbekistan and the wider Central Asian region.

Putin said Russian secret services had information about militants crossing from Afghanistan into Central Asia, and had warned governments in the region before the Andijan events.

He said "as you know, we had information about infiltration by militants from Afghanistan. We informed our colleagues in all the countries where they concentrated, but I am not sure to what extent this information was conveyed to you in time".

"This problem of course exists," Putin said.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that militants, with the participation of former Taliban and members of the extremist Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, were training in Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan, to carry out terrorist attacks, including in Russia.

A day earlier, Putin said Russia - which is battling a separatist insurgency in its largely Muslim southern province of Chechnya - and other ex-Soviet nations were concerned about terrorist training bases in Afghanistan.

Unrest erupted in the eastern city of Andijan on May 13, when militants seized a local prison and government headquarters.

Rights activists say the victims were largely civilian protesters but the authorities have accused militants of killing hostages and of using civilians as human shields.
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