21.   U.S. and Japanese government action against those groups are cited by Chinese media to justify the crackdown on Falun Gong.

22.   Human rights activists say that the Uzbek leader has used the rebel attack to justify a crackdown against Muslim fundamentalists, particularly from the banned Hizbi Takhrir group.

23.   Iran on Friday denied any role in the unrest in Bahrain, accusing the Gulf Arab kingdom of blaming outside parties to justify a crackdown on the opposition.

24.   Iranian officials have denied any role in the unrest in Bahrain, accusing Manama of blaming outside parties to justify a crackdown on the opposition.

25.   But some human rights activists fear that Central Asian regimes are using the Islamic extremist threat as an excuse to justify a crackdown on political or religious opposition.

26.   Concerns have been raised that Central Asian states have used the US-led offensive to justify crackdowns against domestic opposition to their regimes.

27.   Concerns have been raised, however, that Central Asian states have used the US-led offensive to justify crackdowns against religious and political opponents to their regimes.

28.   Some newspapers on Friday expressed fears that the military would use the decree to justify further crackdown on the rebels.

29.   Some governments are exploiting the US-led war on terrorism to justify crackdowns on domestic political opponents, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.