Mirzayev, part of the radical Wahabi sect, disappeared on his way to Moscow for an Islamic conference in the same year. He has not been seen or heard of since. Tears ran down Mirzayev's cheeks as he talked at his farm house near Andizhan of his brother and his sermons, tapes of which now circulate clandestinely. Gorbachev things were more democratic,'' said Mirzayev. Western states, whose first concern is Uzbek independence from Russia, have voiced only mild concern at Karimov's human rights record.
Islamic clerics get even less attention.
But the letter singled out only harassment of Christian groups, with no mention of the same troubles faced by Moslem clerics in the overhwelmingly Moslem country.