Tajikistan may try "bandits"

The Supreme Court in Tajikistan is considering a case against 10 Uzbek men accused of acts of terrorism against the Tajik Government and of being bandits.

The men were arrested last Novemeber in western Tajikistan after crossing into the country from Uzbekistan.

They are also accused of being supporters of Makhmud Khudayberdyev, a rebel who in 1997 led a rebellion against the government in northern Tajikistan.

Makhmud Khudayberdyev was a former Tajik government commander who was later ousted by President Emomali Rakhmonov.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service