UZBEKISTAN: Major political events in Uzbekistan since Karimov assumed leadership of the Uzbek Communist Party:
1989 - Islam Karimov, the orphan son of a Tajik mother and Uzbek father, becomes leader of Uzbek Communist Party. Violent attacks take place against minorities in Ferghana Valley. Nationalist movement Birlik (Unity) is founded.
1991 - Uzbekistan declares independence from Soviet Union. After collapse of Soviet Union, the country joins Commonwealth of Independent States -- a grouping of former Soviet republics. Karimov returned as president in elections in which few opposition groups are allowed to field candidates.
1992 - Karimov bans the Birlik and Erk (Freedom) parties. Large numbers of opposition party members are arrested.
1999 - Bomb blasts in the capital, Tashkent, kill more than a dozen people. Karimov blames the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). IMU broadcasts a declaration of jihad from a radio station in Iran demanding the resignation of the Uzbek leadership. IMU insurgents launch a series of attacks against government forces.
2000 - Karimov is re-elected president. Western observers call the elections neither free nor fair. New York-based Human Rights Watch accuses Uzbekistan of widespread use of torture.
June 2001 - Uzbekistan jails 73 people for up to 18 years for aiding Islamic extremists in its southern Surkhandarya region in 2000.
October - Uzbekistan allows the US to use its airbases for attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan.
January 2002 - Karimov wins backing for extending his presidential term from five to seven years in a referendum derided by the West.
August - Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan military leader Juma Namangany is reported killed.
June 2003 - Erk opposition party holds first formal meeting since it was banned 11 years earlier.
March 2004 - Uzbek special forces storm a suspected Islamic militants' hideout, killing up to 23 people after a day-long siege.
July - Suicide bombers target US and Israeli embassies in Tashkent. A third blast hits a state prosecutor's office, killing three people.
November - New restrictions on trading practices lead to civil disorder in eastern town of Kokand.
May 13th, 2005 - As many as 500 people are feared killed when Uzbek troops fire on protesters in the eastern town of Andizhan. - (Reuters)