The information is sketchy, but this much is certain: Islamic guerrillas have taken hostages, including four Japanese, in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. The number of hostages, the number of guerrillas, their nationality and their demands are uncertain. This incident set the stage for the Central Asian summit meeting that was held this week in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The five presidents -- from China, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan -- attending the two-day meeting fear the Islamic contagion and the threat of separatism. The summit is designed to help them deal with this threat. It may strengthen their hand in international law, but that is unlikely to have much impact on the guerrillas themselves.
This is the second kidnapping incident in Kyrgyzstan this month. Earlier, Islamic rebels took hostages in the same region, but released them after negotiating with the Kyrgyz government. Those militants were Tajik fighters opposed to the reconciliation plan that ended a five-year civil war in Tajikistan. The same group has been blamed for this week's attack, although Tajik officials accuse guerrillas from Uzbekistan who tried to assassinate the president of that country in February.
Ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, there has been growing unrest about the "Islamic contagion" in Central Asia. Millions of people throughout the region have embraced the religion since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Taliban's victory in Afghanistan increased concern that fundamentalists would overturn secular governments throughout the region. In the process, they would encourage separatist forces in China's western provinces and in Russia's "near abroad." The kidnappings, the bloody war in Chechnya and the recent outbreak of fighting in the Russian republic of Dagestan are signs that this fear is not just paranoia.