In the very near future, the third Dzhizak main canal, which joins the southern Mirzachul canal, will be made 21 km longer, and some of the water from the Syrdarya will flow into the Dzhizak reservoir. There will an opportunity to pump up to 6 cu.m. of water per second into the Dzhizak reservoir, whereas only between 1.5 and 2 cu.m. of water are pumped currently from the Zarafshan.

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"We recall that yesterday was the cutoff point for the supply of natural gas from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan, due, experts say, to consumers failing to observe the regulations for gas use", said its representative.

The concern told Asia-Plus news agency that the chairman of Tajikkommunservis, Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, and his counterpart, the head of Uztransgaz, Nikolay Zhurbin, had reached a preliminary arrangement by telephone that the Uzbek side would not cut off the gas for the moment.

The concern's management is continuing negotiations on the possibilities of increasing the supply of Uzbek gas.

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n an interview with a Tashkentskaya Pravda correspondent, the US ambassador to Uzbekistan, John Edward Herbst, has given his definition of the USA's long-term policy towards Uzbekistan. He began his interview with what the US president's special envoy to the CIS countries, Stephen Sestanovich, did not have time to tell journalists about during his 32-hour stay in Uzbekistan a few days ago.

According to Herbst, Sestanovich considers his visit a success, since he has something to report to the new US president about cooperation with Uzbekistan - specifically, about a project for combating terrorism and protecting human rights. Sestanovich also discussed with the country's leadership ways of "nudging" (Herbst said precisely that - Americans are not fastidious about their choice of expressions) our interrelations.

"Uzbekistan can influence affairs in the Islamic world. That is one of the reasons why we want to cooperate with you. The other one is that my friends and I are confident that the national economy of Uzbekistan can develop faster than at present. US business - Newmont Mining, Coca-Cola and Case - is already present, and that is why US businessmen are interested in economic growth in your country. We are sure that our proposals on this matter will be heard some day," Herbst says.

The ambassador took the opportunity of his meeting with journalists to deny some idle gossip that is circulating, for example, on the Internet - particularly the internet "sensations" about the purchase of weapons from the USA.

"The man who is backed by air, and the Internet is no more than air, is not always right," the envoy said. "We are cooperating within the framework of NATO, but assistance in the form of weapons is not on the agenda."

The ambassador also expressed surprise at the notion that the relevant Uzbek agencies have lodged a request with the US government not to give entry visas to private individuals: "We have very strict rules on entry, but I haven't heard anything about this. On the contrary, many young men and women are studying in the USA, and your specialists are undergoing training in US firms. This practice will be continued."

Afghanistan is a special topic. "Uzbekistan is in the centre between India, China, Afghanistan and so on. The USA wants to see peace in Afghanistan. The war in that country is a long and sad story. We are talking to the Taleban that's no secret. But we have always regarded Uzbekistan as an important partner in that work," John Edward Herbst noted.

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he republic's Supreme Court held a regular meeting last Friday. The meeting discussed how to implement draft resolutions. The courts should be not a body for punishing citizens, but should protect their rights. This is of course the main principle in building a law-based and democratic society. However, during today's meeting we heard that in certain places, judges in particular were making crude errors when deciding people's destiny.

Ubaydulla Mingboyev, chairman of the Supreme Court: "Court practice shows that some of our courts are still being slipshod about determining the types of punishment, they are not fully observing the principles of humaneness and justice, they have a marked tendency to punish most defendants by depriving them of their freedom."

There are eight types of punishment in Uzbekistan's legal system. Just note, 48 per cent out of those all tried in 1999 were deprived of freedom. Since the beginning of 2000 this figure has been 46 per cent. Other penalties are applied less often. For example, whereas earlier the punishment of corrective labour was meted out to 24 per cent out of all those convicted, in 1999 the figure was 14.6 per cent. The same year, 6 per cent of penalties were in the form of fines and 4 per cent in the form of suspended sentences. Only 2 per cent of those convicted this year received jail sentences of between one and six months. How one can understand a situation where types of punishment such as deprivation of certain rights were hardly applied at all?

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elations between Germany and Uzbekistan have developed dynamically "but not evenly" in 2000, German ambassador to Uzbekistan Martin Hecker told a press conference in Tashkent on 22 December.

He said cooperation in culture and education has developed particularly well. At the same time, economic relations, which used to be at a high level, have been tending towards decline in the last few years, he added.

He recalled that trade turnover between the two countries exceeded DM1bn in 1997, amounted to DM637m in 1999 and will remain at this amount in 2000. The ambassador said he believes Uzbekistan should resolve its problems by "opening up to world trade", for which "it is necessary above all to convert the national currency".

He recalled that as part of financial cooperation alone, Germany has issued Uzbekistan with credits worth DM258m, plus DM57m provided for Uzbekistan as part of technical cooperation. The money went towards upgrading Tashkent airport, fighting the tuberculosis epidemic in Karakalpakstan and improving the water supply in Khorezm Region.

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An agreement also has been reached on visa-free travel for residents of Batken Region to all towns in the Fergana Valley until the two republic's governments adopt a final resolution. Other vital issues, such as supplies of natural gas to all population centres in Batken Region through the territory of which the Uzbek pipeline passes, will be tackled soon.

This report comes from the For International Tolerance public foundation, representatives of which attended the talks. The foundation is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which is engaged in finding ways to settle various conflicts.

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The 62-year-old pensioner, Khodisakhon Sharipova, aroused the policemen's suspicion by her nervous behaviour, and was found to be carrying 487 grammes of heroin under her coat. The newspaper report added that she had been travelling through Uzbek territory on a train from the northern Tajik town of Konibodom to the capital, Dushanbe, and was to take the drugs to Moscow "for a handsome reward".

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The first HIV-positive person in Tashkent Region was found in the town of Yangiyol in February 2000, the newspaper said.

"This is what happened following the diagnosis of the first HIV-positive case: On the instructions of the head of Yangiyol District, absolutely every possible support was mobilized to assist our medical staff from public organizations and foundations (Kamolot, Soghlom Avlod Uchun [For a Healthy Generation], Nuroniy). The town hospital and the central Regional hospital did a great deal of work... Well, guess what happened then? March gave us another `surprise' similar to the first, and, then April yet another... As at today, over 50 carriers of HIV infection have been brought to light...," the physician, identified as Mokhira Zaripova, told the newspaper.

Asked what measures were being taken to identify risk groups and treat prevent further infection, Zaripova said special confidential clinics were being opened and disposable syringes were being issued to drug addicts. "In addition to the traditional measures of diagnosis and treatment, this year we have taken another step: we have opened confidential clinics. First of all in Yangiyol and now in Almalyk and Chirchik [nearby industrial towns] and we shall be opening more. People come to us for consultations and advice. And ... for disposable syringes. We have resorted to this, and are getting a lot of help here from the Soghlom Avlod Uchun foundation. At least then they won't be passing round the same syringe, there will be less risk of infection. We only give out syringes in exchange for used ones, which we sterilize and destroy."

Zaripova said there was no danger of HIV infection being transmitted through the health care services, and said the public should observe the normal precautions. So far, she added, there have been no cases of HIV infection transmitted from mother to child. "People should be selective in choosing their partners and observe safe sex (condoms!). It should be borne in mind that that AIDS can also be transmitted from mother to child (though we have no registered cases of that). We are now very cautious about donated blood and test the donors first. We use only disposable-syringes. In general, I now rule out the possibility of infection being transmitted by medical means."

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