DEMOCRACY

Yahoonews: Russia, US blocked NATO call for probe into Uzbek massacre: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia and the United States blocked NATO last week from calling for an international probe into last month's clashes in Uzbekistan, in which hundreds of people were believed killed, The Washington Post said.

US officials at a meeting Thursday of defense ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia and Ukraine discussed violence-torn Darfur.

A closing statement said security issues in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, had also been discussed without further details.

Defense officials prevailed over the State Department view that a probe was in order by arguing that an investigation could compromise US access to a military base in Uzbekistan they said was crucial in the fight against international terrorism, the daily said.

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