US dispatching senior diplomat to Kyrgyzstan to weigh aid requests after ethnic violence

US dispatches envoy to Kyrgyzstan to weigh aid

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is dispatching a senior envoy to Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic violence has killed hundreds and driven tens of thousands to neighboring Uzbekistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday instructed Robert Blake, the top U.S. diplomat for south and central Asia, to visit Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan this week to assess the situation and weigh aid requests by Kyrgyzstan.

The Ferghana Valley region of southern Kyrgyzstan has been wracked by days of rioting targeting Uzbeks.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Blake, who was in Central Asia on a previously scheduled trip, will be in Uzbekistan on Wednesday and Thursday, and Kyrgyzstan on Friday and Saturday.