USA to expand ties with Uzbekistan, despite slow pace of reform


Russian news agency Interfax
December 8

Bilateral relations between the USA and Uzbekistan have been brought to a qualitatively new level today, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told during a press conference in Tashkent on Saturday, following talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov earlier in the day. The secretary of state is in Uzbekistan on a two-day working visit.

Powell said he had come to Tashkent with a message from President George W. Bush to Karimov, in which the American president thanks Uzbekistan for its support in the antiterrorist operation in Afghanistan and invites Karimov to visit Washington. The US views Uzbekistan as an important element in the coalition fighting international terrorism, he said.

Powell also noted that he and the Uzbek leader had addressed bilateral cooperation in various spheres. Washington intends to expand cooperation with Tashkent in the political, security, economic and human rights spheres. Taking questions from journalists, Powell admitted that the USA had some disagreements with Uzbekistan concerning the pace of democratic development in the country and promised that the dialogue on this subject would be continued.

Powell said he had told Karimov that US interests in the Central Asian region stretched beyond the framework of the current crisis in Afghanistan, adding that these interests were long-term in Uzbekistan and should be permanent in the region as a whole.

The secretary of state also noted that the humanitarian situation in the region was also among the subjects discussed in Tashkent and that Karimov had informed him in this connection that the Bridge of Friendship on the Uzbek-Afghan border would be reopened on Sunday [9 December] after a series of technical preparations.

The Uzbek president, who also spoke at the joint press conference, in turn described as "open and fruitful" the exchange of opinions concerning the progress of the antiterrorist operation in Afghanistan and American-Uzbek relations. Karimov particularly emphasized that Powell had displayed a profound knowledge of the state of affairs in Uzbekistan. The parties achieved absolute mutual understanding on many issues, primarily on the situation in Afghanistan, he said.

Karimov also said he was optimistic about prospects for the development of Uzbek-American relations and was glad to accept the US president's invitation to visit Washington.