Annan: Uzbek Leader Rejects International Probe

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Uzbekistan has rejected calls for an international investigation into last week's deadly clashes in the Central Asian country.

Mr. Annan says Uzbek President Islam Karimov told him in a telephone conversation late Thursday that the situation in Andijan was under control and that every measure was being taken to bring those responsible for the violence to justice.

Earlier Thursday, U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour called for an independent probe into the violence.

Two human rights groups say Uzbek security forces may have killed as many as 1,000 civilians in last week's clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Andijan and the city of Pakhtaabad.

The Uzbek government, which blames the violence on Islamic extremists, puts the death toll at 169.