Almaty, Kazakhstan - A popular Muslim preacher who is one of Uzbekistan's most wanted men has left Central Asia after the United Nations helped him to find asylum abroad.
Abidkhan Nazarov drew a large following in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, but went into hiding eight years ago when the authorities tried to arrest him.
The Uzbek government has intensified work to round up potential critics who fled to ex-Soviet republics recently.
Mr Nazarov has been living secretly in neighbour Kazakhstan for several years.
The United Nations gave him refugee status and has now flown him out of Kazakhstan to a third country.
Mr Nazarov asked that his destination not be revealed, for security reasons.
He was delayed at the airport at the last minute because his name was on an Uzbek wanted list. But senior Kazakh officials intervened to allow him to leave the country.
'Influential preacher'
The Uzbek authorities accuse Mr Nazarov of religious extremism.
He was an influential Muslim preacher in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, in the 1990s when huge crowds would gather at his mosque in the city's old quarter.
He spoke against corruption, called for freedom of speech and encouraged women to attend the mosques - a departure from local tradition.
Mr Nazarov went into hiding in 1998 when the authorities began a campaign against imams who resisted government control.
In recent months Uzbek agents operating in Kazakhstan had intensified their efforts to find him and other Uzbek refugees who had fled to Kazakhstan to escape religious persecution.
His eldest son disappeared in Tashkent two years ago and is thought to be in government detention.
Mr Nazarov told the BBC he intended to continue his religious studies and writing while abroad. He denies having had any contact with extremist groups.
Nine of his followers were illegally sent back to Uzbekistan last November after being arrested in Kazakhstan. The Uzbek authorities have given little information about their fate but all are believed to be in detention there.
The UN is considering another 60 Uzbeks in Kazakhstan for refugee status, a fact which is bound to strain relations between the two countries.