U S Radio Liberty reporters arrested in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, Mar 10 (Reuters) U S-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said today two of its local reporters working in the authoritarian Central Asian country of Turkmenistan had been arrested and taken to unknown locations.

RFE, which offers the only Turkmen-language alternative to the country's state-controlled radio, said it had also lost contact with its other reporters there, without giving details.

''This persecution, without even a pretext of legality, is a blatant violation of media freedom and the human rights of these brave journalists,'' RFE/RL's acting president, Jeff Trimble, said in a statement.

Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry and police were not available for comment.

Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has been run by autocratic leader Saparmurat Niyazov since 1985. He calls himself ''Turkmenbashi'' (Father of the Turkmen) and cultivates a personality cult.

RFE/RL did not say how many reporters work for it in Turkmenistan. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a separate statement RFE/RL employed six Turkmen service journalists who report on an irregular basis.

RFE/RL said reporters Meret Khommadov and Yumadurdy Ovezov were arrested on March 7 by local police in separate incidents.

''The Turkmen authorities are refusing to speak with the correspondents' families or give a reason for the arrests,'' it said.

REUTERS SY KN1926