The man, identified as Abubakr Kenjaboyev, was speaking in state-owned Uzbek TV’s "Iqror" ("Confession") programme, broadcast on 30 March. The TV said he joined the movement in 2000 as an ideological leader, who later headed a splinter group opposed to Tohir Yoldosh, the head of the IMU. Kenjaboyev gave a detailed account of how he came to join the IMU and what made him abandon it.

"We can see that Tohir Yoldosh, a man who once had more than 1,000 soldiers, has only 100 or 150 left today. He is busy replacing his lost men with a younger generation of members. But how much longer will he keep replacing them? Many of them are today coming to realize they were wrong. In other words, Tohir Yoldosh’s movement is nothing else but degradation. It is something that will cease existing by itself," Kenjaboyev said.

Describing Tohir Yoldosh’s personality, Kenjaboyev said he was a bad leader whose actions did not match his words.

"He is the type of person who easily goes back on his words... Though he is very good at giving emotional sermons, he does not practise what he preaches."

Kenjaboyev said that Yoldosh even refused to accept three orphaned children of one of his closest associates, Juma Namangoniy, who was killed in 2001: "The fact that this person did not accept the children of his closest associate, Juma Namangoniy, tells everything about him."

He also said that while the other families living at Yoldosh’s camps had to cope with awful conditions, Yoldosh and his family enjoyed a life of comfort and wealth.

The TV also showed videos of armed people in action; some listening to speeches by their commander.

Recounting his role under Yoldosh, Kenjaboyev said he had come into conflict with Yoldosh when he objected to the unbalanced curriculum of the classes taught to children at Yoldosh’s training camps. He said the only subjects were religious classes and how to use weapons.

"Because it was a jihadist madrasah. If the children are taught worldly subjects, there is the risk that they may begin realizing what is right and what is wrong. The result could be that the orders of the leaders of the Islamic movement will be defied, especially as the IMU members are decreasing in number now. The idea is that they [lost members] will be easily replaced if the children are trained to be militants at madrasahs."

The TV also showed videos of young children carrying weapons and undergoing field training, including a child who the TV said was killed during combat exercises.

Speaking about his other experiences after he abandoned the IMU, Kenjaboyev said that at several stages during his short stays in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, he was offered the job of setting up a new US-funded Islamic movement comprised of former IMU members.

"They invited me to team up with them on a new idea. My job was to gather all the people who had abandoned the movement [IMU] and establish a new movement, group. They said the USA was willing to provide every help we would need. Personally, I was twice invited to do this. Their objective was to get those who avoided fighting interested in some things and encourage them to fight. The result they wanted was to create conflicts in certain regions, no matter where they are. In this way, they tried to use the flag of Islam as a cover to achieve their personal interests."

"My observations say that be it an Arab, Uzbek, or any other movement, they all share the common flag of Islam, but what is behind them is the wishes of amirs [chiefs] or those close to them. Of course, Allah will never give victory to those who use Islam as a cover," Kenjaboyev said at the end of the programme.