SG/SM/9232
                                                                                                                        31 March 2004

Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Terrorist Bombings in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

NEW YORK, 30 March (UN Headquarters) -- The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General expressed his dismay about the series of terrorist bombings and other violent acts perpetrated in the past two days in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, and the provincial centre Bukhara, which reportedly claimed the lives of more than 20 people and left more than 50 injured, most of them civilians.

The Secretary-General condemns those criminal acts in the strongest terms.  Targeting of civilians is a crime which cannot be justified by any cause.

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