Before anything, make sure to read Nathan’s evening updates. Jim over at Gateway Pundit also has a great roundup with links to BBC video footage available.

Earlier Saturday, people gathered in the same square that yesterday saw the bloody crackdown of Karimov’s regime.

While the violence in Andijan appeared to have calmed Saturday, disturbances flared in the village of Korasuv, 30 miles to the east, when 6,000 Uzbeks trying to flee into Kyrgyzstan were blocked at the border. Some in the group set fire to a police station, vandalized police cars and attacked border personnel, a Kyrgyz official said. Uzbek helicopters were seen circling overhead.

In Andijan, hundreds of angry protesters gathered at the site of Friday’s bloodshed, placing six bodies on display from the scores witnesses said were killed in fighting. Clusters of bystanders watched as men covered other bloodied bodies with white shrouds.

Demonstrators, some with tears in their eyes, condemned the government for firing on women and children. Residents said a group of hundreds later went to a local police station to confront the heavily armed authorities, who sent a helicopter buzzing low over the crowd to scare them away.

Karimov said he ordered authorities not to take any physical action against the demonstrators Saturday.

“In Uzbekistan, nobody fights against women, children or the elderly,” he said.

In such a crisis, the man almost sounds believable. Not. Because of yesterday’s crackdown, thousands of Uzbek’s fled the city toward the Kyrgyz border, where most were prevented from crossing. The others snuck in. Due to this, those several thousand stormed a border village and staged protest anew.

Thousands of terrified Uzbeks waiting to flee across the border into Kyrgyzstan stormed government buildings, torched police cars and attacked border guards Saturday in a second day of violence spawned by an uprising against the iron-fisted rule of U.S.-allied President Islam Karimov.
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About 6,000 Uzbek residents headed Saturday to the border with Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz border guards were awaiting a government decision on whether to allow them in, said Gulmira Borubayeva, spokeswoman for Kyrgyzstan????????s border guard service.

Saturday????????s clashes erupted in the village of Korasuv, about 30 miles east of Andijan. Korasuv is directly on the Kyrgyz border, which is divided by a small river.

Uzbek police and tax offices were set on fire, and police cars were vandalized, a Kyrgyz official said on condition of anonymity. Uzbek helicopters were seen circling the town.

The Ferghana Valley is the most economically devastated in the entire country, and that’s even in comparison to the rest of the country. Andijon, the city where yesterday’s protests took place, resides within this area. Many people are unemployed and disillusioned with Karimov because of this forced injustice, making Ferghana the most anti-government area in Uzbekistan.

Now, there is definitely a correlation between this and the trial of the 23 young businessmen. Karimov has arrested hundreds of people in this area on trumped up charges, but in particular small business people and “Islamic extremists.” The latter is one of his favorite excuses for arrest. In any case, these twenty-three individuals comprised a core part of the local business community, and many people knew them because of it. It seems to me that Karimov takes the prominence of local leaders as a threat and wanted them extinguished, citing ties to “radical Islamic groups.” Being that they provided opportunities in a place where so few exist, however, seems to have really sparked the outrage of the locals. In fact, these protests are hardly random, as people have been peacefully protesting these arrests for four months already.

On the issue of the businessmen being Islamic extremists, I doubt it. As I have already said, Karimov uses this frequently as an excuse to arrest people, and locals seem to be denying that they are. The government, as well, began to back down by postponing and trial and offered a much lesser sentence. If they were terribly concerned about terrorism from these people, they wouldn’t have remained backed down on this. Besides, peaceful protestors just don’t seem so extreme, in my eyes. With regards to the gunmen who seized the buildings and made it, well, unpeaceful, it is of course possible that they are Islamic extremists. There were some actual Islamic extremists released among 2000 people sprung from jail. But as I’ve noted, Karimov has arbitrarily arrested hundreds of people. Many of them the local residents felt had been unjustly accused and tried, so they were retaliating by freeing them.

The Islamic Jihad group in Uzbekistan has called for action, but as Nathan notes, their calls always amount to nothing and resonate with nobody. No connections have even been made between the gunmen and the protestors as of yet, so it seems likely that the gunmen were simply taking advantage of the crowd to further their agenda. That’s unfortunate, because to U.S. policy makers wary of terrorism and the military bases there, this situation could be misconstrued if this is the case. To note, however, this same concern existed with Kyrgyzstan. Hizb ut-Tahrir, who Karimov has blamed with being affiliated to the gunmen, is now actually in high decline in Kyrgyzstan following their revolution.

But it is precisely that democratic process that some say might have weakened the appeal of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Until recently, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s popularity was partly based on its role as an outpost of dissent in the authoritarian countries of Central Asia.

But the revolution gave many Kyrgyz an alternative channel for voicing their discontent. It also gave them a rare opportunity for legitimate political participation.

Besides this, Karimov cracks down on any Muslim who does not worship in a state sanctioned church, a practice high on the rise. The existence of extremism is only possible when a democratic government that secures the fundamental human rights of its citizens is not in place. Perhaps we would better understand this issue if we look at it as fundamentally one of oppression and the destruction of the human spirit, instead of terrorism. I know that some people are going to think that Muslims in the region just want an “Islamic Revolution,” but they are normal people. Muslim or Christian or Jew, they just want to live a good life and be free to practice their faith. It’s a fundamental human right, and their government guarantees none of them. The people who sympathize with radical groups only do so because they have no outlet for discontent, and once they do, I guarantee these groups will go away just as Karimov will have to. Here is what an analyst, from the same article, said:

???????If Kyrgyzstan becomes very unstable, it could become a territory that would allow existing Islamist-related groups in the region to thrive,” Tanya Malcolm, a Central Asia analyst with the Eurasia Group, told RFE/RL. “I don????????t want to exaggerate the problem of Islamist extremist activity, but there have been some anti-government violent attacks possibly in Uzbekistan, although we are not quite sure who was behind them, and various movements in Kyrgystan and elsewhere. I think there’s a genuine international concern that another weak spot in Central Asia would allow those types of movements to thrive. And the reason that they might thrive is because other governments in Central Asia, most importantly in Uzbekistan, are becoming more and more authoritarian, which is in itself fueling this problem of extremist activity and anti-government violent activity.”

The United States needs to consider this as it is drafting its policy toward these most recent protests. They have said that both sides need to remain peaceful, which is of course the most neutral statement possible. There is still a lot to be seen with regards to these protests. We are either seeing the beginning or the end of this phase of protest. The U.S. government must be waiting to figure out what direction this is going, because if it comes out in support of the protestors prematurely, it is definite that they would lose their bases if the protests amount to little. Last year, however, they provided $15.7 million for civil society and democracy building programs, along with much more.

As they wait, so does everyone covering the event, news outlets and media alike, because it is simply too early to tell what direction this is going. Is this the beginning, or the end? Protestors in the border town of Karasuv are expecting the Uzbek authorities to raid the city after dusk. But regardless of whether or not the dictator Karimov comes down on this protest, there will inevitably be another, and eventually another, and another. This event really is unprecedented for Uzbekistan, as the people who were scared and separated have found one another alike to hate the government. Governments and human rights groups already denounce the abuses of Karimov’s government, but if these protests continue and even spread, it may be a golden opportunity to shine the light on one of the darkest corners of Central Asia.