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A marketplace in Tashkent, where terror threats prompted the evacuation of the Israeli embassy.
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| By israelinsider staff and partners June 3, 2005 |
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Staff at the Israeli embassy in Uzbekistan and their families have been instructed to leave the country owing to heightened security concerns, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
Israeli daily Haaretz said only ambassador Ami Mel and security guards were left on station in the capital, Tashkent.
The U.S. State Department on Thursday warned of potential terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan and gave permission for some if its embassy staff and their families to leave the country.
Last month security guards at the Israeli embassy in Tashkent shot a man carrying fake explosives, as he approached the building. The suspected bomber was an Uzbeki who appeared to be wearing an explosives belt, which later turned out to have been a dummy device, and ignored orders to halt.
Violence that the authoritarian government of President Islam Karimov blames on Muslim extremists has roiled the former Soviet republic since 2004. It came to a head this year when terrorists stormed a jail, released prisoners and became embroiled in a battle with government security personnel.
Thursday's State Department statement named the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement as among the groups active in the region.
The AP contributed to this report.
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